Season 9: The Birth of a New Era
by SlayrGrl
Summary: ON HIATUS until Summer 2010. Sequel to my Season 8, Months after the defeat of Volternas Buffy visits her father in LA while the gang holds down the fort in London. New friends and enemies return and a prophecy about Buffy and Spike's baby is discovered
1. 901 Prophecies and Premonitions

**This is a sequel to a previous story written by me "Season 8: Another Day Another Demon"**

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**Prophecies and Premonitions:**

_Heels click on the wood floor as white satin glides across it. Buffy walks, keeping her pace, down the isle of the church. The church is lit in a hazy glow from the sun shining through the stained glass windows. Buffy smiles sweetly at Spike standing at the end of the isle dressed in a black tux, his blue eyes gleaming at her with love. She nears him holding on to the white bouquet of lilies in her hand which match the color of her perfectly fitted wedding dress, the satin of which rolls over her slim pregnancy-free frame. The room is silent and empty except for the two of them. No wedding march, no priest, no friends or family, and while it doesn't occur to Buffy that it would be impossible to be wed without a priest the comfortable silence in the room seems to be all she needs to make this her day._

_Buffy finally comes to rest standing before Spike. He looks down at her. They both shine brilliant smiles at each other. Then Buffy hears something, from behind her there is a feint cry. Buffy spins around dropping her bouquet as she does. The lilies fall to the floor in a silent thud. It feels like slow motion as she turns toward the sound, the sound of a baby crying. There on the pew wrapped in a white blanket is her baby. Buffy goes to pick up the newborn with brilliant blue eyes just like her fathers. She picks her up and turns back toward Spike._

_This time as the slayer turns to look at her lover he's not alone. Standing behind him in the traditional black and white attire of a nun is Drusilla. Spike is no longer dressed in a tux; he's back in his regular ensemble including his black leather coat, and when Buffy glances down at her dress she sees that it has changed as well. Now she stands in a gown just as she did before, however the color has changed from a pure white to the darkest black. Buffy holds her baby close to her as she watches Drusilla sleekly dances around Spike. _

_"Miss Edith has whispered in my ear that there will be a changing in the wind with a kiss," Drusilla says as she moves around to face Spike. She strongly grabs his face with one hand, her red tipped nails digging into his skin. "A kiss to steal the spark," Dru says as she smashes her lips against Spike's. _

--

"No!" Buffy yells as she wakes up in a jolt.

"Are you alright love?" Spike says from beside her. It takes Buffy a moment to remember where she is; as she looks around she's reminded that she, Spike and Dawn are on a flight to L.A. Buffy sits, now fully pregnant with her belly the size of a beach ball between Spike who has the isle seat and Dawn who's sitting with her eyes plastered to the window.

"Yeah… I'm fine, just had a bad dream," Buffy says as she looks at Spike. His hair was a little unkempt curling at the edges and his roots were starting to get really long. She wonders just how long it's been since he's dyed it.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really."

"Oh!… I thought of another one… what about Jayden?" Dawn says twirling around to face her sister and Spike.

"Jayden Avery Summers… I like that, add it to the list."

"Are you ever gonna just pick one?"

"…_Eventually_... you know I've always liked the name Joan."

Spike and Dawn both give Buffy a look that says _what are you thinking_.

"What?" Buffy questions innocently, but neither Spike nor Dawn say anything. "Well alright, we won't name her _Joan_, geez." They were on their way to stay with Hank until the baby was born. Giles knows a doctor in L.A. who specializes in the births of demon species. While they believe the baby to be human they are still unaware of exactly what problems could arise with the birth of a vampire and slayer's baby. A few weeks before they left Buffy, along with help from Giles, explained her destiny to Hank. It had taken him a while to not only accept but believe what they were telling him; especially that his daughter was dating and impregnated by a vampire. Eventually though he came around. Now they were on a small airplane owned by the Council about an hour from LAX. They timed their flight just right so they took off at night and will be landing at night as well.

--

One, two, three, four, five Xander counts the vamps before him as he raises his sword and decapitates one of them watching as it's body turns to dust. Oomph, Xander's knocked to the ground. Six, damn, missed one Xander thinks as he rolls on to his back to see the vampire who pushed him to the ground hovering before him. Xander looks to his side and sees his sword. He reaches for it as the vampire draws nearer. Then he grabs the silver weapon and looks back at the vampire just as it turns to dust. As its body dissipates in the air before him Myla becomes visible. She stands before Xander with her stake still poised in the air.

"Hi honey," She says as she helps Xander to his feet with her free hand.

"Thanks," Xander says as he finds his balance and looks to his left to see Kennedy knock one of the vamps to the ground with a flying kick. Willow then dusts him as he hits the ground. Another vampire comes up behind her "Willow," Xander yells as he watches the vampire prepare to attack her. Willow turns around and holds out her arm using her magic to hold the creature in place as Kennedy comes up and stakes him. The remaining two vampires take off. What they thought would be an easy target turned out to be a dangerous trap. Xander, Myla, Willow and Kennedy watch as the last two vampires disappear running away with fear.

XANDER: "What's with the vamp-a-palooza tonight?"

KENNEDY: "I don't know, but I don't mind the action."

MYLA: "They were moving in a pack… I'm thinking maybe there's a nest near by."

WILLOW: "Makes sense… with all the slayeretts shipping out to their assigned locations last week and Buffy being out of town…"

XANDER: "The evil undead think it's safe to come out and party."

WILLOW: "Exactly."

MYLA: "We should proby head back… it's almost sunrise anyway."

XANDER: "I second that."

KENNEDY: "We should look for that nest tomorrow during the day, what do you say Willow, up for a little reconnaissance with me?"

WILLOW: "I can't, sorry; Giles wants me to help him with something… you and Xander and Myla can go though."

KENNEDY: "…yeah."

Willow's words are sweet, but Kennedy still feels a little upset. She wished her and Willow had more time to spend with each other. Kennedy had assumed when they were fighting the First that Willow was just throwing herself into work because it needed to be done, but after he was gone, and after they defeated Volternas Kennedy found Willow just as involved in her research and magic as ever.

The four of them make their way back to the Council where things would be quiet that night. A few weeks earlier all the slayeretts including Myla finished their training and all, besides Myla, were assigned Watchers and sent to fight in various locations all over the world where they were needed. With Myla and Xander's relationship growing she decided she could still do some good in London and stay there with him. Since then Willow and Giles have been putting together a portfolio on the potentials that are still out there in the world. Soon they will be training new slayers and going through the same routine with them as they had the year before. The potentials would be given a choice. If they accepted they would be taken back to the Council to be trained and from there they would become slayers.

--

Dawn is the first one off the plane walking down its tiny stairs to the tarmac. The second she sees her dad she runs up to him and gives him a hug as Spike helps Buffy down the stairs. Hank greets his eldest daughter with a hug as well taking note of her profoundly obvious pregnancy

"It's so good to see you sweetie… Gosh, you look like you're about ready to pop," Hank says and Buffy smiles comforted by his words. Hank gives his daughter one final squeeze and then pulls away and turns to Spike. "And I suppose you would be the uh… _vampire_ who's dating my daughter," Hank says as he reaches out his hand for Spike to shake. A gleam appears in Spike's eyes and a small smile crosses his face from Hank's words as he shakes his hand.

"That would be me, names Spike."

"Hank… so _Spike_, do you have a real name?"

"William."

"Well, William… it's good to finally meet you."

"Likewise."

Buffy watches the two of them exchange greetings. She knew her father would grill Spike a little bit, but Spike seemed to be enjoying it and overall she could tell the two men were getting along just fine. Hank then shoves his hands in his pockets and turns back to face his girls.

"So I figure after that long plane ride you all must be starved, I thought I'd take us all out for dinner… that is um, Spike, you do eat right?"

"Uh yeah… don't need to or anything, but yeah I eat."

"Well good then because I've already made reservations."

--

Giles sits alone at his desk in the Council. He's been following a lead which is possibly about the birth of Buffy's baby and it's kept him there long past when he would normally head home. The dimming light from the lamp beside him is all he has lit in the dark room. So encompassed by his books he's forgotten to turn any others on. He adjusts his glasses as his eyes skim over the ancient text and then he stops. He's found it.

"Dear Lord," Giles says as he brings the book closer to his eyes to read what it says. The ominous prophecy was most certainly about Buffy's child. Giles sets the book down and picks up the phone. Then he stops. He sets the phone back in its cradle. She wouldn't even be in L.A. yet, and all the scoobies were fast asleep at this early hour. Then Giles rethinks telling Buffy completely. Sure, she must know eventually, but the extra stress right now would only cause harm. He decides to wait until after she returns to London to tell her what he has found.

--

Buffy, Spike, Dawn and Hank sit at a round table in an expensive Los Angeles restaurant. Their meals have been ordered and the waitress takes their menus away allowing the four of them some time to chat while they wait for their food. Hank looks at his two girls and realizes how much they've grown up and how much of their lives he's missed. Sure, he saw them on weekends occasionally when they had lived in Sunnydale and they would talk on the phone, but in all honestly he wasn't really there for them and he knew it. At that moment he wished that he could change all that and thinks to himself that from here on out he would try to do better.

HANK: "So how do you girls like living in London?"

DAWN: "It's awesome, everything's old and the library at the Council is filled with really cool books, Oh and I really like my college."

HANK: "I'm glad you're doing well over there."

BUFFY: "I miss the sun… I think I took the nice weather out here for granted… not that snow and rain and cloudy days aren't nice, but I really miss going to the beach sometimes."

HANK: "Well, you girls are always welcome to come out here and go to the beach any time you like."

Buffy and Dawn both smile at their father. They could tell he was trying and they were grateful for it. Since their mom died they had been missing that parental figure in their lives, Giles had filled the void for a short while, but he grew distant over the years. "So Spike, how did you and Buffy meet?" Hank then says setting his eyes on the vampire before him. A small smile creeps across Spike's face as he thinks about how to answer that question.

SPIKE: "Well, uh… we've known each other for quite some time now. We uh… weren't on the best of terms at first…"

BUFFY: "More like mortal enemies."

SPIKE: "Long story short… we had a meeting of minds over an enemy in common and decided to team up to take him out… then I left town for some time and a few years later when I came back the Slayer and I worked together to fight the good fight."

HANK: "So have you always been _fighting the good fight_, from what Mr. Giles has explained Vampires are… well evil."

SPIKE: "Oh no, I was evil for a long time."

HANK: "So when you say _mortal enemies_."

BUFFY: "I was being literal."

HANK: "Uh huh."

DAWN: "But Spike's good now… he has a soul, and before that he wasn't even really _that_ evil…"

HANK: "A soul?"

BUFFY: "Yeah… when you become a vampire, you die; you loose your soul and all ability to feel remorse, thus the whole being evil thing."

HANK: "But Spike has a soul now?"

DAWN: "Yeah."

HANK: "You're gonna have to explain this to me a little more."

SPIKE: "When I became a vampire… it was like I had the world in the palm of my hand, I did horrible things and I won't try to dismiss any of that… But vampires still have feelings, they feel sad, they feel love, but without a soul… every action has some selfish reasoning behind it… what made me different from other vampires wass that I got to see the world from the Slayer's point of view… it never meant that much to me to _be evil_, I never wanted to end the world or all that, I just wanted to fight something. I changed my colors because I saw something in Buffy that I admired and from there my feelings grew… that's when I got my soul… because with out it I knew I could never be who Buffy needed me to be."

Buffy watches her father's face as Spike explains to him why he is the way he is. She knew Hank would be looking for a good reason as to why he should trust the vampire and from what she saw Spike gave him that. Hank sat back in his chair after listening to Spike's words and gives a soft smile to the vampire for his honesty. Buffy could tell there was a silent understanding among the two of them. They were both cautious of each other, but she was happy that things were going well. Buffy sets her hands on her belly and smiles at the scene before her. It was nice to be there with her dad and sister and of course Spike.

--

Hank turns the lights on at his condo as Buffy, Spike and Dawn walk in. It was the same place he'd had since the divorce and for Dawn and Buffy it felt nice to be somewhere familiar, even if they had never spent that much time there. Spike looks around, it was a rather nice size place, but Spike could tell from the moment he met Hank that he had the money to afford nice things like this. There was a large living room where a sofa bed had been pulled out. Then there was a small hallway where Spike assumed was the Master bedroom and a bathroom. The kitchen was also of measurable size with stainless steal appliances and a breakfast counter.

"I pulled out the sofa bed for Dawn… Buffy, you and Spike can stay in the guest room… don't worry, a few years ago I traded in the twin beds I had from when you and Dawn would visit for a Queen… it just seemed more practical."

"Thanks dad," Buffy says with a smile.

"I um… I wasn't sure what you guys would like to eat, I just stocked the fridge with what I remembed you liked, but we can go to the grocery store tomorrow for anything else… I'm sure you're probably ready to hit the hay about now."

"I know I am."

--

Screams are heard as the last bus pulls in to the L.A. bus stop beneath the near full moon. When the door opens the body of the bus driver tumbles down the stairs and falls dead on the ground. Pointy black shoes tap on the metal steps and a long flowing black dress falls over them as she moves down to the ground. Each step made as if she were dancing to a song only she could hear. Drusilla licks blood from the tips of her fingers and holds her doll in her other hand as she exits the bus. Her eyes are yellow and her face is that of her vampire visage.

"Miss Edith has missed this town far too long… shh, don't worry, soon the stars will scream."

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A/N: Spoilers for the rest of the season are up on my website... also a POLL to PICK THE BABY'S NAME... please send feedback. Thank you all for reading.

**I'm reposting this because my writing style is getting REVAMPED: **I have a full explanation on my website under "My Writing Style" and would really appreciate some feedback pleeeease... I still believe using "script format" is necessary for a full cast of characters, but I've decided only to use it when it's necessary... Next chapter will be up Monday.

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	2. 902 Welcoming

**Welcoming:  
**

Three shopping bags sit on the bench of the subway car next to Buffy. Her and Spike are on their way back to Hank's condo. They have been in L.A. for about a week now and decided to take the subway to the mall to do some shopping for the baby. It was a cloudy day and having an entrance to the subway just outside the condo made getting on the train in the daytime possible, now however, it's dark outside.

As Spike sits next to Buffy in the empty train he watches as three suspicious men board when the train stops at a station. As they sit down Spike can tell that they've been eyeing him and Buffy up. "I think we've got some company love," Spike says to Buffy causing her to wrap her hands tighter around her belly. Buffy could tell from the second the three strange men boarded the train that they were vampires. Her instincts are screaming at her to get up and slay them, but her pregnancy prevents her from doing that. Spike wraps his hand around a stake he's kept hidden in his coat as the vampires stand and walk near. He watches their faces change as they do.

"Well, well look what we have here," The bumpy fore-headed creature says to his companions.

"Looks like lunch to me," another responds.

"You really picked the wrong people to mess with tonight," Buffy interjects.

"And why is that?"

"Let me introduce myself… Hi I'm Buffy, _the vampire slayer_."

"A pregnant slayer… Ooo, I'm _real_ scared."

"You should be… but not of her… _of me_," Spike says as he vamps out and attacks them.

--

Sunrise in London, Kennedy kicks the door in on the vampire nest. Instantly those in the crypt start to sizzle and burn in the light. This was just a small nest; the whole gang had taken down a large one a few days earlier. Now Kennedy and Myla are cleaning up the loose ends. They storm in and start fighting those that remain. They have the advantage with their surprise and ability to back them in to a corner so to speak. It doesn't take long for the two women to dust the lot of the remaining vampires.

"Well that was fun," Kennedy says to Myla who stands beside her.

"I kinda thought that would take longer."

"For a couple of veteran slayers like us? Nah."

"Veteran? Maybe you… not me though."

"Alright, _experienced_ then."

"So what should we do now… I know Xander wanted help with getting stuff going for his '_big surprise_' for Buffy, but I doubt he's up yet."

"No, not Xander… and Willow's got another big project she's working on with Giles today…"

"Another one?"

"Yeah… I don't know, wanna skim the graveyard once more, see if we find anymore of these?"

"Sure."

--

Faith walks beneath the starlit sky back to her hotel. She's been traveling through the U.S. for a few months now just moving from state to state. Finally she found the courage to go home. Now she finds herself in Boston, Massachusetts. Tonight she had almost made it to visit her mother's grave but turned around before she got half way there. As for visiting her father, if he were even still alive, Faith has also yet to do so. Faith's come to realize that this life stuff is a lot harder then she thought it would be.

She's about a block from her hotel when she hears a sound. Faith stops in her tracks and turns to look down an alley way. There she sees two men fighting.

"Hey!" She yells and runs over to break it up. The one man punches the other and starts running to exit the alley. Faith gets in his way and throws a punch at him. She lands it just fine, but not with nearly as much force as she was expecting. She had forgotten for a moment that she doesn't have her slayer strength. She manages to break the assailant's nose, but he's a big burly guy and swings back at her. Faith is knocked off her feet and hits the ground with a painful thud. "Good one Faith," She mumbles to herself. When she looks up the other man from the fight is standing before her. His dirty blonde hair is short and a little messed up from the attack and he looks like he'll have a nice blue bruise to match his blue eyes in the morning. He reaches out a hand to help her up and she accepts it.

"That was pretty brave of you," He says.

"Yeah well, you looked like you could use some help… what'd he want from you anyway?"

"Nothing much, just my money… he took my wallet."

"Ah, a good old fashioned mugging then."

"Yeah… look, I've never seen anyone step in a punch a guy like that before… um, thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Faith says as she starts to walk away. After she gets a few steps from him he starts to follow and catches up to her.

"Wait," he says and Faith stops and turns around.

"Could I maybe walk you home or something?"

"I don't know I…"

"I'm sure you can handle yourself… actually I'm positive about that, I just um… thought maybe you'd like some company."

Faith thinks over his question. He seems like a nice guy… and that makes her want to turn and run in the opposite direction. But there's something about him that she finds interesting, something unique.

"Sure… why not," Faith says and they start to walk side by side down the walk. "So what's your name… I mean if you're gonna walk me home and all we should probably be introduced."

"Oh, Sorry. I'm Mike."

"Faith," she says is response.

--

Buffy and Spike walk into the condo, there they find Hank and Dawn playing cards at the kitchen table. Right away Buffy can tell they're playing crazy eights. She remembers when they were little how they would play crazy eights for hours at a time with their dad. Buffy sets her bags on the other end of the table and sits down next to her dad while Spike walks around the table to sit next to Dawn.

"Did you have fun shopping sweetie?" Hank asks as Buffy and Spike walk in.

"Yeah, shopping was great… the subway ride, not so much… we got attacked," Buffy says

"What happened? Are you okay, is the baby okay?" Dawn asks a little frantically.

"Slow down there nibblet… we're all fine, just a few vamps. I took care of them right quick," Spike says jumping into the conversation.

"You say that like a few vampires are no big deal," Hank asks concerned.

"Well… they're not really… _not_ that vampires aren't dangerous, but I've seen a lot worse," Buffy says.

"Oh! I've got to go," Dawn says out of the blue standing up from the table.

"Go where?" Buffy asks.

"Alden and I are getting breakfast."

"Alden's back in London nibblet," Spike interjects.

"Dawn…"

"I know… gotta go, love you, bye," Dawn says in a rush as she portals herself out of Hank's condo. Her father watches her disappear in a ray of white and blue light then looks to Buffy with a look of total shock across his face. Buffy in turn is staring with a look off exasperation at the spot where Dawn just was.

"Well, that's my cue to allow you two some father daughter bonding time and what not," Spike says as he exits the room thinking to himself that he'll have to talk to Dawn later about not portal-ing herself across the country for dates.

"You know she told me she could… but… does she do that a lot?" Hank questions with disbelief drenched in his voice.

"She's not supposed to."

"And you really do this… fight demons, everyday?"

"Well, not _every_ day, but yeah, it's a full time job."

"Have you ever been seriously hurt?" Hank says with concern rooted deep in his eyes.

"Dad," Buffy says hesitantly "…I… you don't need to worry about me, I don't fight alone."

"In other words it's best if I don't know."

Buffy smiles at her father and remembers how hard all of this had been for her mom to accept, she knows it must be just as hard for him.

"I want you to know hunny… I want to be here for you… I know I haven't really been the best father in the past and I apologize for that… I guess, I just want you to know if there's anything you need, I'm here."

--

Xander presses the trigger of the nail gun installing new trim around one of the windows in the penthouse apartment of the Council. It felt good to be getting back to his carpentry roots, building things calmed him and was a nice change of scenery from the constant demon hunting and Council work that he'd been doing over the past year. The scoobies have decided to fix up the apartment for Buffy and Spike to move into so they have more space when the new baby arrives. Xander of course made himself in charge of this particular project. Xander then turns around as he hears the door creak open. He watches as Willow and Myla walk in with painting supplies including a gallon of paint and rollers.

"Ladies… ready to get your painterly-ness on?" Xander asks.

"You know it, and look… I brought rollers," Willow says smiling.

"Oh, and paint… in _peachy pink_, it's really pretty," Myla adds.

"We are talking for the baby's room right, cause Spike and I might not be all that close but I have a feeling he might object to that being the color for the living room… on second thought paint away ladies."

"It's for the baby's room… I'm gonna go set these in there," Myla says walking down the hall.

"So how's the nail gunning going?" Willow asks.

"Good… real good, I'm just about done… so ah… where's Kennedy, I thought she was helping us today?"

"We um… got in a little fight so she went off to train…"

Willow's sentence is then cut off by Andrew walking into the apartment. He carries his own roller and is wearing bright yellow kitchen gloves as well as a white hospital face mask. Upon seeing him both Xander and Willow give him an odd look. Andrew has the appearance of trying to protect himself from some deadly disease.

"Uh, hey Andrew… what's with the mask?" Xander asks.

"Paint fumes, I've read that they can be extremely hazardous to your health and…"

"Yeah… I get the point."

"Alright I've got everything set up and… Hi Andrew," Myla says as she comes back out into the living room, her words falling flat in her mouth as she sees Andrew standing in his strange ensemble.

"Well _anyway_… Will did you talk to Buffy today, any news about the baby?" Xander asks.

"Oh, yeah I did, she had a doctor's appointment with that doctor lady that Giles knows the other day and said that everything is right on schedule." Willow responds.

"And you didn't tell her about our surprise right?" Xander says with excitement in his voice.

"Nope, she is completely clueless."

"Good."

"You know, it's kinda sad that we can't all be there for the miracle when Buffy gives birth," Andrew says.

"Eh, no… I remember that video from health class, no thank you," Xander responds.

"I agree… babies are much cuter once they get all cleaned up," Myla says.

"I just hope they come home soon… nine months is a lot of time to build up anxious-ness," Willow says.

--

Spike is walking back from the butcher shop, he'd recently run out of blood and just picked some more up. He moves with a swagger down the dirty Los Angeles street past windows with neon lights and steamy storm drains. He carries a paper bag filled with blood and smokes a cigarette as he walks. Since Buffy discovered her pregnancy he's been avoiding smoking around her so when he's been out on his own he's had to get in his fair share of them. It's late now and most shops are closing up. At first all Spike could think about was getting home to Buffy, but then he feels a tingle. The hairs on the back of Spike's neck stand up and Spike gets an odd feeling. A feeling he used to get when Drusilla was around.

Then up ahead of Spike he sees her. She turns her head back ever so slightly to look at him. He watches her black hair sway as she walks with a dance in her step. Drusilla turns the corner to walk into the alley dragging her red nails on the bricks of the building and making direct eye contact with Spike as she does. Spike drops his bag of blood and chases after her. Spike runs and rounds turns the corner into the alley, there he sees her standing before him glaring at him with evil and seductive eyes.

"What are you doing here Dru?"

"Shh, it's not time yet," Drusilla says bringing a finger up to her lips. "I've come to set you free my sweet… the stars are singing that your tot needs to be raised by wickedness… you'll come to me again and with a killer kiss we'll take the small one… _she can be ours_."

"Stay away from Buffy and me; hear me Dru… keep your bloody mits away from my family."

"Naughty, naughty… someone's sour… don't worry though soon you'll be my sweet again," Drusilla says as she backs away from Spike vanishing into the night.

Spike thinks about chasing after her, he nearly does, but for whatever reason he can't bring himself to do it. He loved her once and she'll always mean something to him. Then after she's vanished into the night Spike regrets that decision completely. He knows Dru is planning something and wishes that he would have just dusted her there before she got the chance to. Spike runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.

--

Spike walks into the guest room at Hank's apartment to find Buffy sleeping. He paces the room for a moment thinking about what to say to her and how to say it. As he moves from one side of the room to the other Buffy stirs. She wakes up and watches Spike move back and forth before her. Spike is so lost in his thoughts though that he doesn't realize that she's awake.

"Spike, what are you doing?" Buffy asks in a sleepy voice.

"What… oh you're up… um… Buffy," Spike says as he moves over to the bed and sits down beside her. "We have a problem."

"What's wrong… what happened?"

"Drusilla's in town."

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to Boris Yeltsin for his inspiration of the character Mike... On another note I'm sure you've all noticed by now my lack of "Script Style," I've finially stopped being stubborn and conformed, I still like using script, just saying, but from here on out I'll be writng without it and plan to revise all my old fics. I hope everyone likes this story so far and I just want to say thank you to all my readers, you've all been great. I love reading your positive reviews... recently I've started posting on other sites and I get a lot more criticism there. It's nice to log on here and read all your awesome reviews, please keep it up.

Next chapter "Stolen with a Kiss," should be up Thursday.


	3. 903 Stolen with a Kiss

**Stolen with a Kiss:**

Giles sits in his office rubbing his wrinkled brow as he reads and re-reads the prophecy before him concerning Buffy and Spike's baby. He's found himself immersed in this text over the past few weeks and finds himself quite stressed out over his studying. He squints his eyes then takes off his glasses to clean them before placing them back on his face. He wants to make sure that he understands this prophecy perfectly. Then Giles looks up as he hears the door to his office creak.

"Hi Giles," Willow says as she enters the room. "I just finished that map of all the potential slayers… its color coded in pretty glowing lights and everything…"

"Right, yes… good job… I'll uh, I'll come look at it later," Giles says obviously distracted.

Willow just smiles getting the hint that he wants to be alone; she exits the room silently and slightly disappointed that he's so involved in whatever he's working on. Giles is grateful for her quick departure and continues to read the ancient text before him. Just as Giles is getting back into his reading his door is opened again. This time it swings a bit louder on its hinges and loudly Xander and Andrew walk in. Frustrated Giles looks up at the both of them with annoyance in his eyes.

"Giles, is there something you can find for Andrew to do," Xander says annoyed and oblivious to Giles's discomfort.

"I told Xander that you said to lend a hand with the construction of the penthouse," Andrew then says.

"Yeah, but I don't need your help Andrew… Giles, please can you just find some assignment for him?"

"Stop it, both of you… you are grown men and can handle this issue on your own," Giles says louder then Xander and Andrew had expected him to. As he sees the two men before him still he calms down a little. "Sorry… I'm just working on something very important right now and I'd like not to be disturbed."

"Sorry," Xander and Andrew say in unison as they leave Giles's office still a little flustered. Giles removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose.

--

Slimy, cold, clear goop is rubbed across Buffy's belly. A female doctor with soft curly brown hair runs a cold instrument over her stomach. Buffy watches how as she does this the image of the baby inside her appears on the screen in the hospital room. Her father and Dawn are there beside her; however Spike is not having been unable to make it there in the daylight. As Buffy watches the ultrasound image of her baby Dawn holds her hand with a look of amazement nearly as astonishing as her big sisters.

'Look at her tiny toes," Dawn says with her eyes glued to the screen before her.

"So when should we expect…" Hank begins to say.

"Soon… very soon, I would expect Buffy to go into birth anytime in the next few days actually," the doctor replies.

"That soon… wow um… and she's healthy right… I mean there's nothing… _unusual_ about her, is there?" Buffy asks.

"You mean something unusual like being the child of a vampire and a slayer?"

"Yeah."

"She's perfect… I don't think there's anything to be worried about," the doctor says as Buffy takes a sigh of relief.

"Thanks"

--

Faith sits at a small table across from the blonde mugging victim she tried to help the week before. Despite her best efforts she's found herself liking this man and actually agreed to let him take her out to lunch, after all, he had been persistent about it and Faith figured that the whole point of her excursion away from her powers was to live her life a little. So here Faith sits at a small diner across from Mike attempting to push all preconceived notions about men from her mind.

"So where are you from?" Mike asks as they wait for their food remembering that she's been staying in a hotel.

"Well, I was born here, but uh… I spent most my life moving from place to place, I wouldn't really say I'm from anywhere."

"So what brings you back to town then?"

"I'm kind of on this soul search so to speak… just wanted to figure some stuff out about myself before I went back to London."

"London?"

"Oh, uh yeah… that's where I live now… well kinda, I don't have much of a place there or anything, but it's the closest thing to home I've ever known."

"So what's in London?"

"You know… these are a lot of questions about me… what about you, where are you from?" Faith asks wanting to go no where near any explanation of her being a slayer.

"Oh, sorry… I do that sometimes… Uh, well I've lived here all my life, but I've done a lot of traveling… never really could stay in one place for long, but it was always nice to come home… right now I'm just working on finishing up my degree… I want to do something in foreign relations."

"Wow… that's uh, a lot of school," Faith says feeling a little inadequate at the moment. "School, was never really my thing ya know."

"So what do you do?"

"I um… I have a job in London working with run-aways… you know, how bout we skip all these in-depth questions."

"That's fine with me, I understand if you're not ready to share… I can be… I'm a little pushy when it comes to getting to know someone who I find really interesting."

Faith then smiles at his comment. All her inadequacies about school and life-choices fall away. He finds her interesting, and that's enough to keep Faith interested in him.

--

Needing a break from Andrew, Xander walks into Willow's magic lab and finds her looking over a large map. She has it rolled out on the round table in the back of the room and it takes up nearly the whole table; all across its surface are about five hundred tiny glowing dots the size of pencil points in various colors and glowing at various strengths. Xander walks up behind Willow and startles her as he comes up beside her.

"Oh, Xander, hi… I didn't see you there," Willow says.

"Sorry to sneak up on you… I just uh, needed to take a break from my carpentry… what are you up to?"

"I'm working on locating the new potentials."

"So that's what this is?"

"Yup… the pink dots are the ones that are slayers and the yellow ones are the potentials who can become slayers if they touch the scythe."

"Nifty… so then that really bright pink one…"

"There in California, yep that's Buffy, now I'm just working on figuring out their names and exact locations so we can hunt them down and introduce them to the fabulous world of vampire slayage."

"Ah, and then we'll have a council full of shiny new slayeretts… how I'm _not _looking forward to that day."

"Yeah, I've been enjoying the quiet lately."

"Eh, what are ya gonna do."

--

The sun has just set in Los Angeles and Spike is glad that Buffy has yet to return home. He throws on his coat and sets out into the night. Drusilla has yet to make a move, but Spike's done waiting. He makes his way down the street with determination in his eyes, he plans to find his former dark princess and kill her before she can hurt his family. Stakes are hidden away beneath his clothing and all Spike's will has been bundled up inside him preparing him to kill his former lover. He can feel her watching him; she'd been doing so for days, now all Spike has to do is find exactly where she is.

As he moves through the night following that tingling feeling she give him he finds that she's leading him somewhere. The thought that it could be a trap passes through his mind for a moment, but then he pushes it away. When he had seen her the week earlier she made it clear that she wanted him back. Spike knows she won't be trying to harm him. As he moves further and further down the street he finds himself in less and less populated areas, then the feeling takes him down into the electrical tunnels.

Spike is so lost in the feeling of Drusilla that as he vanishes below he misses the feeling of another vampire he once knew looming in the shadows. Once Spike has disappeared into darkness of the tunnel Angel steps out into the light of the street lamp. He'd been following Dru since he realized she was in town and waiting to see what it was that she was up to. What Angel hadn't been expecting was to see Spike following after her. The last Angel heard of Spike he had a soul and was working side by side with Buffy, but now Angel wonders if his grandchilid has gone back to his evil ways.

--

Spike drops down into the electrical tunnel, his feet land in a small puddle of water and there before him she stands his black beauty. Her raven hair matches her black dress and she looks at him through her yellow vampire eyes with a seductive glare. Spike pulls a stake from his coat and holds it up prepared to drive it into her cold black heart. He takes a step toward her and Dru saunters closer as well.

"Now, now Spikey… you wouldn't kill your sweet princess would you?"

"Do what I have to Dru."

"Nonsense… I have a gift for you my sweet."

"Don't want your gift Dru."

"Oh, but it's a delicious gift," Dru says as she gets right in Spike's face standing mere inches from him. "I'm going to eat your spark and then it will sit deep inside my belly, together we can eat the sunshine my pet and take the tiny one for our own… She'll be a great power you know, the stars; they've sung it to me."

Dru drags one of her red nails down the front of Spike's chest and Spike braces himself to dust her. As he raises his stake, however, Dru suddenly leans in and kisses him square on the mouth. Spike is stunned, but that's not what keeps him from staking his ex love. As her lips meet his something happens. There is a burning in Spike's chest, a pain that fills his whole body as it's embraced in bright light, a bright light that flows up and out through his lips. The stake from Spike's hand drops to the ground and clatters on the floor. As Drusilla pulls away Spike finds that he feels different. He feels guiltless, vindicated and free. As Spike looks at Drusilla he sees a sly smile creeping across her face and within seconds she's squealing with joy. After a moment of confusion Spike understands. She stole his spark, she stole his soul.

"Spike," A voice calls from behind Spike and as the blonde vampire turns around he sees Angel standing behind him with a stake raised in his hand.

--

"Spike," Buffy calls out as she returns home with Hank and Dawn. She wants to tell him the news she got about the baby, about how they should expect her to be born soon, but as Buffy wanders through the condo she finds that he's no where to be found. A bad feeling tingles at the back of Buffy's mind, but she pushes it away. As Buffy walks back in by her father and sister she meets Dawn's eyes with a look of concern. "Spike's not here," Buffy says.

"I'm sure he just went out to get some blood or something," Dawn responds trying to calm her sister's nerves.

"Right, you're right… I'm sure it's no big deal… I mean Spike goes out all the time. He's fine I'm sure," Buffy says, and as she does she finds that it doesn't even sound convincing to her.

Buffy sits down at the dining room table as her nerves become more tangled with concern. She knows something bad has happened but feels like there's nothing she can do but wait. Somewhere at the back of her mind she's reminded of her dream from when she first flew into L.A, and Drusilla's presence in L.A. only fuels her fears further.

--

"Daddy's come to see the show," Drusilla says with an excited giggle looking at Angel over Spike's shoulder.

"What the bloody hell did you do Dru," Spike says as he focuses his attention on the raven-haired vampire before him.

"She took your soul," Angel called out from behind him causing Spike turn back and glance at his grandsire with true understanding finally filtering through his mind.

"Oh dear, I think my boys are going to fight," Drusilla sings as she slowly vanishes down the tunnel without being noticed by Spike nor Angel.

The second Spike turns to look at Angel he has his stake raised ready to take him out. Spike quickly throws a punch at Angel and from there the two are in a full out fight. In the darkness of the tunnel the two master vampires knock each other around with anger and violence. On some level this fight isn't at all about Angel doing the _right thing_ and taking out a soulless vampire, it's about retribution. Angel slams Spike hard against the wall of the tunnel and raises his stake, before he gets a chance to turn him into dust however, Spike lands a well placed kick between Angel's legs that sends him folding to the ground.

"I'd love to stay and chat peaches, but I've got a lady I need to see," Spike says as he looks down at Angel, climbs up the ladder to the street and takes off. All Angel can think is that he knows he's headed for Buffy.

--

There's a knock at the door and instantly Buffy knows that it's Spike. She jumps to her feet as fast as she can with the weight of her pregnancy and opens the door to see him standing there. She knows something's wrong, but throws her arms around him with relief that he's okay. After a moment she pulls away and steps into the condo. Spike takes a few steps in as well and looks down at her in her flustered condition.

"I was so worried… I just had this horrible feeling that something happened… that Drusilla killed you or I don't know…" Buffy rambles on.

"Buffy, I have to talk to you about something," Spike starts to say.

"Buffy stop," a voice calls from down the hall. Both Buffy and Spike turn to see Angel run up to the doorway only to be stopped by the barrier from his uninvited status. "Buffy, get away from him… he's evil. Drusilla took his soul," Angel says just as he's noticing her pregnancy and finds himself really out of the loop.

"What," is all Buffy can say as she steps back from Spike protectively putting her hands across her belly.

"Love, wait a minute… I was just about to tell you," Spike says knowing that she's scared of him.

"Buffy, invite me in," Angel says, but Buffy denies his request. She finds herself unable to speak completely.

"Spike…"  
"Shh, love I won't hurt you. Loved you before the soul remember, I'll get it back," Spike says looking down at her with love deep in his dazzling blue eyes. Buffy remains frightened at first, but after looking in his eyes finds that she knows he does love her and believes that he will seek out his soul for a second time.

"You can't trust him," Angel says from the doorway, but Buffy has already decided that she can, she turns to face Angel.

"Angel… I trust him… he's not going to hurt me, I'll get my dad to invite you in, but you have to believe me," Buffy says and Angel folds. He doesn't trust the bleached vampire beside his former love, but he trusts her.

"Alright," Angel says.

"Okay… then we can all sit down… I need you to tell me what you know about what Dru did so Spike can get his soul back."

Buffy exits the room to get her father while Spike stands in the doorway glaring at his grandsire with a cocky smile and all the pride he can muster for having Buffy trust him over Angel even in his soulless status.

* * *

A/N: Next episode "Newborn" airs Monday, stay tuned. Next week Spike and Angel go after Dru. Thanks again to all my reviewers.


	4. 904 Newborn

**Newborn:**

Spike and Angel sit across from each other at Hank's dining room table. Both master vampires are attempting to glare holes through the other with steely gazes. Then their evil eyes are distracted as Dawn walks up with two mugs of blood setting one in front of each of them and then takes a seat at the table. Buffy also wanders over after having given her father a brief explanation of the situation. Hank didn't quite have a full grasp on what was going on, but he understood enough. As Buffy sits down she notices the uneasiness that floats through the air.

"So now, what exactly happened?" Buffy asks looking pointedly at Spike.

"Went to seek out Dru… got tired of waiting… found her down in the electrical tunnel… I went after her to kill her, but she… she caught me off guard,"

"How… Spike, what exactly did she do?"

"She kissed him," Angel then says.

"Oh," is all Buffy manages to choke out a little upset that Spike had kissed his ex, however unwillingly it had been.

"She did a spell… I've been tracking her the last week or so, she did a spell to suck out Spike's soul, I thought she'd been planning to use it on me but…"

"But she was after Spike," Buffy finishes Angel's sentence then looks at Spike's guilty face. "So what do we do… how do we get Spike's soul back?"

"From what my people have discovered, if Drusilla dies before Spike drinks from a human his soul should be returned to him."

"Alright good… As long as Spike doesn't eat anyone before we dust Dru we're in the clear… tomorrow night we'll suit up and go after her," Buffy says immediately receiving odd looks from everyone at the table.

"Uh, Buffy, remember what the doctor said?" Dawn asks.

"What? What's wrong with the baby?" Spike asks with concern dripping through every word.

"Nothing, the baby's fine… the doctor just said that I should expect to give birth soon… and so _fine _I won't go… Spike, you and Angel will have to handle Dru," Buffy replies and Spike calms upon hearing her words.

"I'm sorry; I know this is none of my business, but Buffy…" Angel begins to say.

"You're wondering why I'm as big as a house."

"Well… yeah… not that… I mean… I'm happy for you, I just feel a little out of the loop."

"I… it's Spike's… we've been together for over a year now and yeah I know vampire plus slayer usually doesn't equal baby, but there was a spell and it's a long story."

"I think I've got the gist of it… congratulations," Angel replies.

--

Faith and Mike meander through the night toward Faith's hotel. Faith finds herself surprised that she's growing fond of this man. It had been a long time since Faith found herself genuinely interested in anyone. After lunch they had spent the rest of the day together, but now as the stars shine bright across Boston their time together is coming to a close. They walk talking of various trivial things and then come across a graveyard. They will need to pass by it to get back to Faith's hotel and as they walk past headstones Faith is reminded of her calling.

"So you really speak seven languages?" Faith asks with an amused tone.

"Well, yeah… I mean two are a little shaky, but um… yeah languages and other cultures they've always really interested me… Oh God, I'm boring you by babbling on about myself aren't I… see this is why I end up asking lots and lots of questions."

"No, no, you're not boring me at all… I've just um… the only people I've ever met that are brainy like that, well they're old and dull and you're not so…"

"Well it's good to know that I'm not old or dull."

"Sorry I didn't mean that to come out…" Faith's words are cut off by a sound in the distance. "Did you hear that?" She says turning away from Mike.

Before Mike has the chance to respond Faith sees movement in the graveyard and sprints off in its direction. Mike follows her unsure of what to do. After years of slaying the undead even without her slayer senses Faith knows there's a vampire up ahead. Then the creature comes into sight and Faith pulls out a stake. She's kept one on her at all time since she's left London, not that she's been going patrolling at night, but for the off chance that she would get attacked.

Faith looks at the newly risen vampire as he's about to sink his teeth into a young female passerby. The vampire notices Faith right away, however he doesn't notice the stake that's being held firmly in her grasp. The vampire drops the girl he's holding. Once she's made her way back up onto her feet she runs off into the night. The vampire turns to Faith and attacks her. This time Faith remembers that she's not as strong as she used to be and ducks the vampire's first blow. As he stumbles she comes up behind him and drives the stake through the back of his chest.

Mike looks at Faith through the falling dust of the former vampire. "I have a feeling there's more about you I don't know," he says.

--

Everything is getting boxed up in Buffy's old apartment as Myla and Kennedy lift up the heavy sofa with ease and carry it out the door. Willow sits on the floor of the kitchen boxing up the gently used pots and pans just as Xander walks back in to grab another piece of furniture. Before Xander has a chance to get his hands on the oversized recliner Andrew steps in his way.

"What should I move?" Andrew asks.

"Nothing… just stand there and don't break anything," Xander replies.

"But… _come on_. I care about Buffy and Spike and Dawn and that ity bity baby just as much as all of you… I wanna help."

Xander glances at Willow who gives him a look back that says '_he has a point'._

"Here," Xander says handing Andrew a lamp "but don't break it." Andrew smiles and hurries off down the hall. Xander then turns to face Willow's whose still sitting indian style on the kitchen floor. "So Will, how's that boxing going?"

"Pretty good… I'm almost done; they don't have a lot of things, but I guess that's what happens when all your possessions are engulfed into the Hellmouth."

"Yeah… those apocalypses… sure do make moving a breeze though."

"It's kinda weird isn't it… Buffy and Spike having a baby."

"Yeah… a little bit… like at first things just went on like they always had, but then the baby belly set in and they left town… I kinda threw myself into this project to help me not think about it, but now that I am… yeah, it's weird, it's like _when did we all grow up_ ya know."

"That's exactly how I feel… we've all been through a lot together… I'm starting to feel a little old."

"Ah, Nonsense Will… older, wiser, more handsome sure, but not old," Xander says and Willow smiles at him for his reassurance. "Were ah… we're mature."

"Yeah… I like that. _Mature_," Willow says to let the word soak into her brain. "We're a bunch of mature, _young,_ adults with the world at our fingertips."

"There ya go Will. That's the sunny attitude I like to see."

--

Buffy wakes up to the feeling of Spike's cold fingers across her belly. He's still asleep. Buffy looks down at him in that moment and thinks to herself that if she didn't know better she'd have no idea that he was a soulless killer. Then Buffy hears a noise from the kitchen. Her slayer senses tell her that Angel is up most likely warming up a mug of blood. He had insisted upon staying the night because of Spike's soulless status. Buffy had tried to tell him that he didn't need to do that, but after they had finished talking it was near sunrise anyway and she reluctantly agreed to let him sleep on the couch. All night she knew that he was listening intently for any sign that she would need his help, but she never did. Soulless or not Spike loves her.

--

It's mid afternoon when Buffy walks into the kitchen. After staying up until sunrise the night before sleeping on vampire hours was much needed. She walks into the kitchen to see Angel sipping from a mug of blood and notices that her father has left for work. She smiles softly at her former lover as she opens the fridge to pull out a carton of orange juice.

"You know the last time I saw you, back in Sunnydale… when I _figured out_ about Spike… I just never thought… you're _really _happy with him?" Angel asks watching Buffy pour herself a glass of orange juice. She takes a sip then turns to look right at him.

"I um… I don't know if I'm exactly _cookies_ yet, but yeah… this is what I want, and I'm happy," Buffy replies avoiding direct eye contact.

"If he ever hurts you I'll kill him, you know that right?"

"Yeah," Buffy says as she hears a noise from behind her.

Within seconds Spike walks into the kitchen. His hair is tousled and Buffy notices how much his hair has grown by the length of his roots. He gives her a small smile then shoots a warning look towards Angel before opening the fridge and pulling out another container of blood. Angel watches him as he pours it into a mug and sticks in the microwave.

"What's the matter peaches… don't trust me?" Spike questions without turning around.

"You could say that," Angel responds keeping his eyes on the blond vampire before him and taking another sip from his mug.

"Alright boys, play nice now," Buffy says seeing the tension before her between the two vampires.

Just then Dawn enters the room and makes a b-line for the cabinets. She shuffles through their contents in search of something.

"Where did those cookies go you were eating the other day Buffy?" Dawn asks still facing the open cabinet.

"Um," Buffy says and Dawn twirls around to face her.

"You didn't."

"Sorry… I ate the rest of them yesterday," Buffy says with a guilty expression.

"We just bought them the yesterday! Uh… I will be so happy when you're done eating for two."

--

Faith knocks on Mike's door. Moments pass as she waits nervously at the threshold to his apartment. After he saw her slay that vampire the night before she quickly departed without giving him an explanation. Slowly the door opens and then Faith is met with his blue eyes.

"Faith…come in."

"No I can't I just came to say…"

"Daddy," a small voice calls from behind Mike. Faith watches as Mike turns to pick up a small girl with bright blue eyes and brown hair. She looks to be about five years old. "Who's here daddy?"

"Well firecracker, this is daddy's friend Faith," Mike says to the little girl then turns to face Faith.

"You have a daughter?"

"I'm sorry I never mentioned her before… I didn't want to scare you off," Mike says as Faith looks on at him with stunned eyes.

"It's alright," Faith says snapping back to reality. "Look, the reason I'm here is because… I can't see you anymore… I haven't been completely honest with you about who I am and what I do…"

"I kinda figured that from the other night."

"And I can't tell you… I have a flight back to London a week from now."

"Look Faith whatever this is that you're into, it's fine with me, and you don't have to tell me about it but I don't want you to go… I don't want to stop seeing you."

"I'm sorry Mike, but I just can't," with that Faith turns and leaves.

--

Angel and Spike walk side by side down the dark alley. Angel eyes up the soulless vampire beside him and wonders how he's such an anomaly. How can Spike be so similar without a soul to when he has one, but Angel knows the answer. Spike, unlike Angel, has always just been himself. When vampires are turned they keep a lot of their human personalities. Angel thinks back to his human self, he had been a true bastard and he knows the only reason that he's capable of being good now is because of the torment he feels from his soul. Spike had been good when he was alive and he always held on to some of his values even as a vampire, and from what Buffy had told him Spike was working on being good before he got his soul. In a way it made sense, after all there were good demons out there. None the less, Angel still doesn't trust him.

"She's close," Spike says.

"Why are you doing this, Spike?"

"Because I love her and because I'm not like _you._ Just because a ponce like you uses his _demon_ as an excuse for all the bad things you've done doesn't mean I do… I changed a long time ago."

"So why do you need your soul then if you've changed so much?"

"What is this? Is captain forehead all pissy that his exclusive club won't be as tight anymore?" Spike says in a teasing voice. "Just because I've changed doesn't mean it's an easy thing for a demon to do… I don't fully get it without the soul, it's like a piece of me is missing."

"If this is some kind of act…"

"Oh can it already… you know…" Spike stops. He feels her and so does Angel.

"Hello boys," A voice calls from the darkness, a voice that is distinctly Drusilla's.

--

"Oh God," Buffy says. Her feet are wet and there is a puddle of water on the wood floor. Her left hand grips the granite counter top in the kitchen and her right hand wraps protectively around her belly. This is it, the baby's coming. "Dawn!" Buffy yells loudly and within seconds her sister as well as her father is by her side. "It's time," Buffy says as she sees them and watches as Dawn's eyes grow wide.

"Oh… I'll go get your overnight bag," Dawn says in a squeaky excited voice.

"Come on hunny, let me help you to the car," Hank says as he puts an arm around his daughter.

--

Drusilla steps out of the shadows with a blond girl beside her. She holds the girl by the back of her neck with her long fingers and stares at Spike and Angel with seductive yellow eyes.

"I've brought you something to eat," Drusilla says as she steps closer to her vampire family.

"Not hungry Dru," Spike says as he grips his stake.

"Now, now my sweet, you must eat for mummy or the stars will be very cross with you," Drusilla says as she walks closer to Spike.

Drusilla holds out the tiny blonde woman to Spike thrusting her arm forward and cutting her neck with her nails by squeezing her grip just enough so she bleeds. Angel and Spike can smell the blood in the air and vamp out as they do be it for the irony smell or the knowledge that they will soon be battling the dark vampire.

Spike casts a wicked glance back at Angel then looks at Drusilla as he reaches out to take the blonde girl that she's offering him. As Spike takes the girl into his arms, Drusilla smiles and Angel steps up closer to his grandchilid with worry. Spike lets an evil gleam shine in his eyes and nears the girl's neck. As he brings his fangs closer he keeps his eyes on Drusilla knowing full well that Angel was nearing fast from behind him.

Then just as it appears that Spike is going to rip into the girl's throat he tosses her to Angel who's rushing to stop him. Angel grabs the girl with surprise. He had been sure that Spike was going to kill her. Now Angel holds the girl as Spike grabs Drusilla by the neck. She looks back at him with defiance.

"Told you Dru, m' not hungry," Spike says with his hand around her neck.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Dru replies with vehemence in her voice. Then with a snap she brings her hand up to his face and twirls her fingers before his eyes trying to pull him into thrall. "Be in me," she says and for a second Spike appears to be falling into her trap.

Then a gasp of surprise falls from her lips and her yellow eyes grow wide. Spike watches as her soft skin falls to ash before him. Angel stands behind him with the scared blonde girl in his arms. Spike had actually done it, he had killed her. Angel watches in disbelief as the blonde vampire stares at the floating dust before him. He watches as a small blue light floats up from the ash and lights up Spike's whole body as it touches him.

--

Spike runs through the hospital. When he arrived at Hank's condo he found a note on the door from Dawn saying that Buffy had gone into labor. Now he flies with speed only stopping at the front desk to ask what room she's in then he's off again flying down the hallway. It's not long before Spike can hear her screams coming from down the hall. His pace picks up and he rushes toward her room. As Spike opens the door and enters the room he sees Buffy drenched in sweat with Dawn and her father at her side. The metal arms of the hospital bed are bent into unrecognizable shapes with deep finger grooves in them. She's panting and Spike watches as the doctor places their baby in her arms. For a moment Spike is frozen staring at the sight before him, then Buffy catches his eyes and within seconds Spike is at her side. They both stare at the tiny newborn with amazement.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, thanks for all your reviews "9.05 New Responsibilities" will be up on Thursday where we get our first glimpse of the big bad.


	5. 905 New Responsibilities

**New Responsibilities:**

Fairies flutter through the air in the Numinous forest leaving lines of sparkling light behind them as they go to hide in the trees. The whole forest is stirring with activity, something is rising and every creature in the woods can feel it. Deep in the dark depths of the woods where the trees grow black and spider webs form between the branches there is a pool. The black thick substance of the pool bubbles as if it were boiling then slowly a creature emerges. Huge bat like wings flap to shed the oily black goo; oily black goo that sloughs off bright red skin and paints the surrounding trees. The demon opens her eyes to reveal black orbs. She has a human like form with bright red skin, dark red and black hair and black bat like wings.

The trees sway as the demon flaps her wings and takes flight. She rises high up into the air and above the tall trees of the Numinous forest. The demon breaks through the barrier between the mystical woods and London. She lands in a squatting position on the ground then slowly stands up. Her black eyes look around at her surroundings then in a flash she takes off again flying high up into the sky.

--

Buffy holding the baby whose wrapped in a soft pink blanked, Spike, and Dawn wait in the elevator as it rises to the top floor. They were confused to arrive home and find the front lobby empty as they entered, instantly the wondered where everyone was; however they did find a note from the gang that said to meet them upstairs. Unsure of what awaits them they wait anxiously for the elevator to reach its final destination. Then the elevator beeps and the door opens, Buffy's eyes sway back and forth in her head then slowly she steps out of the elevator followed by Spike and Dawn.

"What are we supposed to do now," Buffy says turning to face Spike and her sister.

"There," Dawn says pointing down the hall. On the door to the penthouse one pink balloon is tied to the door knob and floats in the air. "I'm thinking we're supposed to go in."

"Bloody goose chase they have us on," Spike comments as they walk toward the door.

--

The door to the penthouse swings open and Buffy, still carrying the baby; Spike and Dawn step inside. They're greeted with a 'Surprise' from the gang and as they look around at the newly remodeled penthouse and find themselves filled with awe at the sight before them. They can tell that a lot of work has gone into fixing it up for them. All their furniture is there and set in place, pink balloons and streamers decorate the room, and of course all the scoobies are there with shining happy faces.

"Is this for us?" Dawn asks while her sister and Spike stand with their mouths agape.

"All yours," Xander replies.

"You guys… this is… thank you so much, I don't even know what to say," Buffy says.

"Oh sush, thank you's later, baby now," Willow says as she walks up to Buffy and takes the baby into her arms. "You are so adorable," the red head says to the tiny bundle of joy. "What's her name? You were still being a big wishy-washy about what to call her last time we spoke."

"Jayden Avery Summers," Dawn says with a big smile. "I picked it out," she says proudly.

"That's adorable," Andrew says.

"Well don't just stand there, come in," Xander says and everyone makes their way into the living room.

"How was your trip?" Myla asks.

Buffy sits down on the couch next to Spike. Willow perches herself in one of the recliners with the baby in her arms, and everyone else finds a spot around the room as well. As Buffy goes on to explain about her trip in L.A. and most importantly their encounter with Drusilla something is peeking in through the window; something that does unnoticed by everyone in the room. A red skinned woman with black bat like wings hovers outside the window of the penthouse fluttering her wings. Once she's gotten a good look at the slayer and her new baby she flies off into the night.

"Wait, who's Drusilla?" Kennedy asks. Both her and Myla are feeling out of the loop while listening to Buffy's story.

"My ex… she's… she _was_ a psychotic, ruthless killer," Spike explains.

"But you're positive that she's dead now?" Giles questions full of concern.

"Dusted her myself."

"Well good, now that miss loony tunes is out of the picture you won't have to worry about her anymore," Xander says.

"I'm afraid it might not be as simple as that," Giles says as he removes his glasses, cleans them and then places them back upon his nose. "Buffy, I'm afraid I've come across a prophecy involving the baby."

"Figures, just when we're starting to have a good time Giles has a prophecy to tell us about," Andrew says.

"Way to be the bringer of doom and gloom G-man, this is supposed to be a party," Xander says.

"I'm sorry, but this is very important information," Giles says.

"No, it's okay. I want to hear it," Buffy says.

"What does it say Rupes," Spike asks.

"It seems that Jayden grows up to be a great warrior. It's prophesized that she will kill a great evil."

"Not seeing the bad there Giles," Buffy responds.

"Yes well, the _bad_, as you put it is that this makes you a target… anyone in connection with this demon is going to be ordered to…"

"To try and kill Jayden,"

"Exactly… and preferably while she's still young and vulnerable."

"Dru knew," Spike says remembering his ex's words "Her words didn't make sense at the time, but she wanted… once she got me back, to take the baby… said she'd be a great power."

"She wanted to kill the baby?" Myla asks.

"No, not kill take… raise her as our own I suspect."

"Now that's odd," Giles says, "unless…"

"Unless what?" Kennedy asks.

"Unless she wanted to raise her and use her powers for her own evil desires."

"She wanted to raise her and turn her to the dark side… it's just like young Anikin as he's seduced by the Emperor to be his apprentice… " Andrew begins to babble.

"Alright Andrew, I think we get the idea," Xander says.

"But she's dead now… so no more evil baby raising right?" Willow asks with a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Unless there's someone else out there who's got the same idea," Kennedy says.

--

Faith zips up her suitcase; the sound of the zipper is the only sound to be heard through the motel room. Faith is now completely prepared to run away from her problems and the complications in her life once again. With one last look around the motel room that she's called home for the past month she pulls the strap of her duffel bag over her head to rest on her shoulder and walks out the door into the chilly night air. Faith feels the cold breeze across her face and pulls her jean jacket tighter around her frame. As the door clicks behind her Faith stops. Something inside her tells her to make a different decision this time, something is telling her not to run away. Faith needs to go left to get to the bus stop that will take her to the airport, but after a moment's hesitation she goes right instead.

--

The gang has decided to spend the rest of the night just enjoying each other's company with hope that they won't need to fight off any attacks that night and plan to make arrangements to keep themselves safer in the morning. At the moment Willow and Myla are looking over baby Jayden with awe in their eyes. They play with her tiny fingers and watch as she looks around at all the activity in the room with her big blue eyes. Andrew and Kennedy look on at them however find more fun in simply observing. Xander is currently giving Buffy, Spike and Dawn a tour of his construction accomplishments and Giles sits on the couch observing them all.

As Giles looks over the men and women before him he thinks back to when he first met most of them. They had just been children in high school, now they are all grown up. They have lives of their own. Giles thinks to himself that he has guided them all as much as he can; actually he thinks that he's done that years ago. He had never planned to become such an integral part of the group again, but here he is. Giles looks on at them with a proud happiness for their accomplishments, but as he does he starts to feel really old.

"I've gotta give you props for this one Harris, this is…"

"Totally Awesome," Dawn says finishing Spike's sentence.

"Eh, it's no big deal, you guys needed more room, besides it kept me busy… the graveyards have been full of vamps lately but other then that it's been dead around here," Xander says.

"Miss us much?" Buffy says.

"You know it Buffster."

Xander's tour officially comes to an end as they re-enter the living room and hear a round of '_aw's_ coming from Willow and Myla who are staring at the cooing baby. Buffy's face lights up as she looks at them, then her eyes travel around the room. She thinks to herself that it feels good to be home and even better to be in the company of friends. Things are starting to make sense in her life again, things are starting to have a place again, and she actually feels like she has a home again. There is a feeling of belonging that overcomes Buffy, a feeling that she hasn't felt this deep in a long time, not since before she died, not since before her mom died. A sigh escapes Buffy's lips as she takes this moment deep into her memory.

"We really missed you guys you know… it feels good to be home," Buffy says.

"We missed you too Buffy," Willow says looking up at her best friend.

--

The red feminine demon flies over London looking at the twinkling lights of the city. She's in search of a place to make her lair, a place to wait and plot, and to grow stronger until it's time to make her attack. Her bat like wings flap with force and her onyx eyes search with intensity. She moves with speed and grace through the sky until she sees a location that will fit her needs. The crimson demon changes her flight pattern and plummets with precision to a grand farmhouse on the outskirts of town.

The demon lands on her feet outside the house and wraps her black wings around her body. They morph and mold enclosing over her skin, skin that becomes lighter in color until it is a human shade of pink. After a few moments her wings have become a tight black suit that surrounds her skin and with the exception of her black eyes she looks completely human.

She walks with swiftness up to its front door. Her black eyes look the front door up and down. Before she can do anything the door flies open and a woman in her forties with graying brown hair stands in the doorway, she had heard a noise and came to the door to see what it was; now she stands frozen in fear looking in the creature's black eyes before her. The demon blows a kiss of sparkling pink air at the woman and within seconds she falls unconscious to the ground. The demon leans down and drags her long talons across the woman's cheek then across her neck and then with force she slices the woman's neck and watches as blood pools out from her body.

--

Buffy gives Xander a hug. Everyone is shuffling out of the penthouse now, it's about 9:00 and the gang wants to let Buffy and Spike have some quiet time to themselves to get over their jet lag. Buffy shuts the door with a final goodbye to her friends and turns back around to see Spike. He holds their baby in his arms; a pink blanket wrapped around her and stares down at her with wonderment in his eyes. His blue eyes glisten as he looks at the miracle in his arms.

"Bye Buffy, I'm going out," Dawn says officially knocking Buffy out of her reverie.

"Whoa, what?" Buffy says turning to her sister as she makes her way to the door.

"Alden and I have a date… what? You said that I couldn't use my powers for stuff like dates so I'm not… see, totally using the door here."

"I know, but… we just got home, don't you want to just _relax_."

"Nope," Dawn says as she walks out the door. Buffy turns to Spike with a look that says '_what should I do?'_

"She's an adult now pet, college girl and all that… you have to let her go," Spike says.

"Yeah, I know," Buffy says pouting, "I just worry about her."

"Dawn's a smart girl; I think she can handle the boys."

"I was talking about demons, I wasn't even thinking about the boys, Oh God… should I be worried about the boys?"

"Well technically love it's just one boy."

"That's even worse… one boy means feelings and feeling lead to… this is no good. How come I didn't think of this before?" Buffy says with a frantic voice.

"Buffy, just calm down… I'm sure the bit will be fine, she's not the kind of girl to be making rash decisions."

"I suppose you're right… still though, maybe I should have a talk with her tomorrow… you know, just to make sure," Buffy says still not convinced.

"Sounds like a plan pet."

--

It doesn't take long for exhaustion to sweep over Buffy and Spike, soon they find themselves lying face to face in bed with moonlight sweeping over their bodies and baby Jayden lying between them. They fall asleep like that, just the three of them side by side in peace.

--

Two knocks. Mike had just fallen asleep on the couch, when a loud banging had woken him. He opens his eyes to see the TV. still on before him. Dazedly he stands up and rubs the sleep from his eyes as he makes his way to the door. Without glancing through the peek hole Mike opens the door and on the other side of the doorway he sees Faith standing in the darkness. She looks up at him with big doe eyes.

"I thought I might stay a little longer," Faith says.

* * *

A/N: Thanks as always to my awesome reviewers, I also wanted to say thank you to those of you leaving comments on my message boards on my site, I love seeing that... Oh and I wanted to say that I've recently put a lot of new fan art up on my site. There are banners for all my fics there as well as this one.

Next Episode "9.06 Moving On" should be up sometime Monday.


	6. 906 Moving On

**This fic is officially on Hiatus until further notice. I DO still plan to finish it, but this semester has turned out to be more work then I expected and school needs to come first. I still plan to work on it when I have free time, but there won't be any regular postings. I hope all of you will tune back in to read it when I have time to finish it (in a few months at the latest) but for right now I just need to put it on pause.**

**

* * *

**

**Moving On:**

Jayden Avery Summers sleeps soundly in her crib made of love from her Uncle Xander and under a mobile of magic stars from her Auntie Willow. A few feet from her crib Buffy and Spike sleep wrapped up in each other's arms. Spike's mind is far away in a distant dream land, but Buffy's however is being haunted from images of a slayer dream.

_Buffy walks through the door of an old Victorian house. A loud creek erupts from it as it swings on its hinges. She steps into the building and the door slams shut behind her, with a rush of fear she spins around and looks at the closed door. It's dark in the house, all the windows are closed and the blinds are drawn shut. Buffy runs to the door and tries to open it but is unable to. Buffy then turns back around and walks farther into the house. The building has an eerie feeling, a feeling that makes Buffy think that she's not alone. _

_She wanders around not sure of what she's looking for, but knowing that she's there for some purpose. Buffy stops for a moment to stare at a picture on the wall. Then suddenly the picture falls to the ground landing at Buffy's feet. The glass shatters into a million pieces and the frame breaks in two. Buffy glances back up at the wall, then screams; it appears as if someone is trying to push their way through the wall. She sees a figure stretching the wall out and reaching for her._

Buffy bolts straight up in bed sweat dripping from her forehead. Her eyes are wide as she stares down at the still sleeping Spike. Buffy's dream has woken her and now she sits upright panting and sweating from the fear it has invoked.

--

Buffy sits at the end of the table in Giles's office with Willow adjacent to one side of her and Xander to the other. She got a call from Giles early that morning saying that he wanted to see her and to come alone. Now she sits alongside her best friends wondering what's going on that Giles doesn't want Spike or anyone other then the four of them to be apart of. Giles sits at the head of the table with three folders in his hand and is avoiding their gazes at the moment.

"What's this about Giles?" Willow says breaking the silence in the room.

"I um… I have something that I need to discuss with the three of you," Giles responds.

"What's going on, should we be worried?" Xander says

"No, no… nothing to worry about."

"Then what's going on Giles?" Buffy asks.

"I um… Well I suppose it's best to just come out and say it. I'm retiring."

"What, no… you cant," Willow protests.

"Who's gonna be the head of the council if you're off living the retired life?" Xander asks.

"You are… all of you… I've gone over every piece of business involved with the council and divided it up," Giles says handing the three of them each a folder. "I've outlined it all in here, but basically, Willow you will be in charge of any magic related issues and general decision making, Xander you will be in charge of the arsenal and weapons training, and Buffy… I've put you in charge of the troops and slayer assignment."

The three of them sit there in total shock as they look down at the folders before them. Sure Giles hadn't always been there, but they never thought he'd be leaving the council. They each finds themselves too stunned to form words and for a moment Giles just stares at them waiting for a response, however, none come.

"Now, I'm only a phone call away if you need me," Giles says.

"Giles… how serious are you about this?" Buffy questions.

"Quite serious… I have full confidence that the three of you can handle this, it's time for me to move on."

--

Three Styrofoam mugs of coffee are held in three battle worn hands in the cool October air. Buffy, Willow and Xander walk briskly down the sidewalk, after Giles's announcement they needed to get out, needed time to think. They stopped for coffee and then decided that a walk seemed like a logical idea. The movement helps calm Buffy thoughts as does having her best friends at her sides.

"I can't believe he's actually retiring," Willow says.

"I know… I mean, Giles was all book guy and now he's retired guy. It's like the world is spinning backwards," Xander says taking a sip of his coffee.

"I don't know I mean… he did leave once before… but then he came back, I just thought… I just didn't expect this now," Buffy says.

"Maybe he'll change his mind… maybe he'll see how boring things are being retired and come back," Willow says with hopefulness in her voice, but Buffy and Xander give her a look that tells her that they don't think so, "or maybe not."

"I just don't get why he's doing this right now… right after he tells me about this prophecy with Jayden," Buffy says.

"Exactly, his timing is…"

Willow's words trail off in Buffy's mind as she stops dead in her tracks. There before her is the house from her dream. It hovers before her like some ominous evil calling out to her. After a moment Xander and Willow realize that she's not walking with them anymore and move to stand next to her to stare that the building that has caught her gaze.

"What is it Buff?" Xander asks.

"This house… I've seen it before," Buffy responds.

"Well, I'm sure we've probably walked past it before," Willow says trying to explain.

"No… no I saw it in my dream last night."

"See, now my first instinct here would be to go to Giles for some direction, but since Will is in charge of _general decision making_… What do you say Will, what do we do here?" Xander says, but Buffy has already started to move toward the front door. After a glance at each other Willow and Xander follow her.

--

A loud wailing sound invades Spike's ears. Spike cradles baby Jayden in his arms bouncing her lightly, but nothing seems to quiet her screaming. She's been fed and her diaper's been changed but Spike can't seem to find a way to calm her. He walks from room to room with her humming softly then his hums break into a lullaby. _"Early one morning…" _Spike sings softly as he continues to bounce the unhappy child.

"Come on bit, what will it take to put you back to sleep," Spike says softly, but Jayden's cries continue.

Spike walks over to the couch and is about to sit down with the baby in his arms when he feels a burning beneath his foot. Spike lets out a loud growl from the pain and plummets into the cushions of the couch. Instinctively he vamps out from the pain and looks down at his foot to see a cross shaped burn imbedded into his heel. Either Buffy or Dawn must have dropped the cross necklace to the floor. Spike picks it up by the chain and sets it on the coffee table, his face still reflecting his vampire form. It's then that Spike notices a different sound coming from his baby girl. A soft giggle erupts from her lips. Spike looks down at her and Smiles a wide toothy grin showing off his vampire teeth and Jayden's giggles grow louder as he does.

"So you like funny faces huh," Spike says happy to have a solution to her cries.

--

Once Buffy, Willow and Xander are all standing inside the entrance way of the abandoned Victorian house the door slams shut behind them with no reason for it to have done so. The noise from it slamming reverberates through the building. Xander and Willow turn around from the sound, but Buffy does not. Some part of her had been expecting that to happen so instead she walks further into the house completely unaffected. Willow tests the door knob and tries to open the door.

"It won't open," Willow says looking at Xander. They both spin to watch Buffy walking farther into the house.

"Uh, Buffy," Xander says, but Buffy doesn't turn around, "I think we may have a problem here."

"No… we're supposed to be here," Buffy says without looking back at her friends.

Xander and Willow share a glance then follow Buffy through a doorway and deeper into the house. They all feel it; there is a presence in the house a dark needful presence. The three of them walk down a dark narrow hallway and at the end they come to a picture hanging on the wall. It's a photograph of a woman with curly brown hair. On the adjacent wall there is a door. Buffy stops in front of the picture then glances back at Willow and Xander. Her friends stare at her with worry for her odd actions and lack of fear for their current situation.

"This was in my dream, this picture," Buffy says and then turns to look at the open door, "this way."

Slowly Buffy turns the doorknob then pushes the door open. It lets out a loud squeak as it swings slowly on its hinges. She stops for a moment and simply stares into the dark room. Buffy glances back at Buffy and Xander one last time and then she walks into the room, after a second they follow.

--

Now that Spike has finally gotten Jayden to sleep for her afternoon nap Spike is in search of his cigarettes. He's planning to step out on to the shaded balcony for a smoke, but he's having one serious problem. He can't find his smokes, anywhere. Since the baby was born Dawn has stepped up her battle strategies in her war against second hand stinky-ness. Her most recent tactic has been taking his cigarettes and lighters hostage. After digging through the pockets of his duster and looking in all the usual places Spike starts to get annoyed. He pulls the couch apart and opens all the kitchen drawers, as quietly as possible Spike pulls the house apart looking for them.

"Alright, that's it… when the bit gets home I'm ripping her throat out," Spike says as he picks up the phone and begins dialing a number.

--

Dawn and Alden are sitting in the back of a dark movie theater when Dawn's phone starts to flash, Dawn fails to hear it however because she has it on silent and she doesn't see the red blinking light for other reasons. What's playing across the screen neither Dawn nor Alden pays any attention to. Eye lids are shut and lips meet in a fevered make out session in the back of the theater. Alden's hands trail across Dawn's exposed skin where her shirt meets her jeans and Dawn runs her fingers through Alden's hair. They've skipped out of one of one of their classes and are using up there lunch hour for this passionate get away. As they kiss in the dark and mostly deserted theater Dawn thinks to herself that she enjoys college life far more then high school.

--

A loud thump is heard in the dark room that Buffy, Willow and Xander enter. Sunlight shines peeking through the cracks in the boarded up windows casting rays across the floor in a broken pattern of lines. The gang is looking over the room when suddenly from behind the wall something moves. The gang watches as a figure appears as if it were trapped behind the wall paper, then just as quickly as it appeared it's gone.

"Ok Buffy, this place is starting to give me a serious case of the wiggens," Willow says looking at the wall move.

"I second that, lets get out of here Buff," Xander says grabbing Buffy by the arm, she turns around to face him.

"No… we can't leave… Something here needs my help,"

Another loud thump sounds in the house, this time louder then before, so loud that it makes everyone in the room twitch from the sound. This time, the floor boards shake from the sound and it's very obvious that whatever this entity wants its intent upon getting it. Willow and Xander turn back to look at the door and as they do it slams shut.

"Okay, this is so not of the good," Willow says.

Suddenly the room lights up in a bright flash, a flash so bright that they wonder for a moment if an atomic bomb has been exploded outside the house. For a moment the light blinds the scoobies. As the bright light fades they find themselves in the same room; however now it's not broken down. There are no boards on the windows, no dust floating in the air. The room is clean and there's furniture filling the space, a queen size bed, nightstand and a dresser.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Xander says.

"No defiantly not," Willow says.

"It's trying to show us something," Buffy says.

Then from behind them they hear the door swing open. A woman walks through. She has long curly light brown hair and green eyes. As she enters the room she doesn't seem to notice the scoobies at all and as she moves farther into the room she walks straight through them. Xander pats his chest feeling wigged out from the experience of having the ghost woman walk through him. They watch as the woman goes to the closet and pulls out a suitcase. She starts to fill it with clothing from the closet. It's then that someone else walks through the door behind them; they notice him as he walks through their bodies and moves to the female person to confront her.

"_You're not bloody doing this to me," the man says in an angry English accent to the woman._

"_It's over Randolph, I'm leaving," the woman responds zipping up her suit case and standing up._

"_So what… these past five years, they just mean nothing to you," Randolph says, his anger boiling, "Well they bloody meant something to me," he says taking a step toward the woman._

"_I'm moving on, I'm sorry… it's just over," the woman says moving past Randolph._

"_You stupid bint," Randolph says grabbing the woman by the arm and pulling her back to him, "You're not leaving me," he says pushing her into the nightstand and watches as the corner of the table is smashed against her temple. _

"Oh God," Buffy says.

"He killed her," Willow says.

There is another flash of light that takes over the room. The scoobies are again blinded for a moment then the light again fades. As their vision returns they find themselves in the same house but back in their own time. The windows are boarded up again, the floors squeak and every inch of the room is again coated in dust. Buffy takes a few steps further into the room then she sees it. The wallpaper has been replaced some time ago and there is a dark water mark down the center of the wall. Buffy walks up to it and trails her fingers across the dark line. Buffy steps back and then punches her hand through the wall. She pulls at the drywall ripping it apart. As the wall falls to the ground in a white mist the gang can see something behind it wrapped in plastic.

Buffy steps back and Willow and Xander step up to stand beside her. There in the wall is a skeleton wrapped in a clear shower curtain. All they can do is glare at the sight before them. Their thoughts are so lost by what they have discovered that they fail to notice the door behind them slowly swing open.

--

Buffy walks into Xander's apartment with a small smile and closes the door behind her. Xander is sitting on his couch with a bowl of popcorn next to Willow who has her laptop set on her lap. She walks up to them and takes a seat in between them. Tonight they're having an exclusive Scooby movie night just the three of them.

"How's the baby?" Xander asks.

"Just got her to bed… Spike's practically passed out on the couch, I guess he had a long day with her… watcha looking up there Wills?"

"Huh… Oh, I looked up the history of that house… it says here that Randolph and Abigail Barnes lived there about thirty years ago… Randolph moved out after his wife went missing… she disappeared twenty-eight years ago almost to the day, they never found her."

"Until now."

"Guess he just couldn't let her move on."

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the late post, I'm having some issues with my house that are gonna end in expensive remodeling so I've been dealing with that. The next Episode "9.07 Sweaty Thoughts, Salty Solutions" will be up by this weekend... and then sad to say after that I'm starting up school again so my posts might start to get down to only one a week... I do my best to get out about two, but we'll see what happens. Thanks again to all my reviewers. You're all great.


	7. 907 STSS

**Salty Thoughts Sweaty Solutions:**

Dawn moves through the empty kitchen grabbing a banana, which is still slightly green, for breakfast and then heads out the door. Her bag is tossed over her right shoulder and she's perfectly prepared for another day of classes. Today, however there are things on her mind, thoughts and feelings that have been there for a while, that have been growing in the back of her brain; thoughts that were planted by soft touches and tender kisses.

"Bye," Dawn yells into the penthouse as she shuts the door behind her. Buffy and Spike are sound asleep and she doubts they heard her exit, but saying bye over the years has become a habit.

Dawn moves down the hallway and gets into the elevator; however she doesn't hit the button to go to the first floor. Her thoughts are leading her, pushing and moving her to hit another button. After she does she glances down at the banana in her hand and notices how hard it is obviously still not ripe, instead of eating it she throws it into her bag. She needs to talk, needs to get the thoughts that are building up and forming questions in her mind out before they burst through her skull.

--

Willow opens the door after loud knocking had startled her from a book she was reading. Her eyes furrow creating a wrinkle between them as she sees Dawn standing in the doorway.

"Willow, I need to talk to you," Dawn says pushing her way into Willow's apartment.

"Uh, okay… what's up… is something wrong?"

"No, no… yes, uh, I don't know… I need some advice… I… how did you know when it was the right time to… to you know?"

Dawn sits down at Willow's kitchen table and Willow sits down beside her.

"Um… well… the right time to what?"

"…Alden and I have been going out for a while and things have been getting a little…"

"Oh… Oooh"

"Yeah… how did you know when it was the _right_ time?"

"Well, I mean… um… it just kind of happens… not that it should just happen, you should plan and be safe and… and actually just don't do it at all."

"Willow, I'm older then all of you were your first times... don't treat me like a kid."

"…Okay… well, you and Alden have been going out for a while so that's good at least… do you feel like it's the right time to… you know?"

"I don't know, maybe… yeah I think so."

"Dawnie, I think the best advice I can give you is that it needs to feel right and if you're not sure, don't do it… does that help?"

"Yeah… I think I just need to think about it all a little more… I should go though, I'm gonna be late for class. Thanks Willow."

--

Dawn walks into class late and shuts the door as quietly as she can behind her. Alden has saved her a seat. Chemistry 101, this was their one and only class together and while they both hated it they liked that they at least could hate it together. Their professor gives Dawn an evil look as she takes her seat. She flashes Alden a quick smile and then turns her attention back to the white board where she tries to make it appear like she's more interested then she is to keep her professor from getting too upset with her, after all she is already late.

As class goes on, however, Dawn finds that she can't concentrate on the Chemistry lecture, but instead finds herself thinking about the chemistry between her and the special someone sitting next to her. Alden then twists his fingers through hers from under the table and Dawn feels her whole body flush red; that is until Professor Leach lets out a deep dry cough and takes a long drag of water from his glass. He always had water with him; the man never seemed to go anywhere without a water bottle and from what Dawn can remember it's always full.

--

Spike wakes to his shoulder being shaken violently by a very awake blonde slayer. As he opens his eyes he sees Buffy standing before him fully dressed and with her make up applied. For a moment Spike's worried that he's slept the day away but when he glances at the alarm clock he realizes that it's only ten am. Spike looks up at Buffy with a confused face.

"What the bugger are you waking me up so early for?"

"Nanny's."

"What?"

"The Nanny's are coming today… remember I had Giles look up some Nanny's who're… knowledgeable about… what we do so we could hire one?"

"No I don't remember that… what the bloody hell do you want a Nanny for?"

"For when we're both out on patrol or some big bad crashes in… I want someone here that I trust to look after Jayden… come on get up."

Buffy pulls Spike out of bed forcing him awake in what would be the middle of the night for his sleep schedule and the vampire finds it in himself to get ready and sit through this application process with the woman he loves.

--

Dawn and Alden exit Chem class and walk side by side down the hall. They hold hands as other students pass by moving swiftly to get to their classes. Professor Leach is in front of them with a water bottle in his hand and Dawn watches as he lifts the bottle to his mouth and drinks greedily.

"That guy is so a demon," Dawn says.

"What… really, how can you tell?" Alden responds.

"Oh, no, he's not… at least I don't think so… I just meant… he's just… evil."

"Yeah, we have a two hundred question test next week, don't forget…. defiantly evil."

"He's just so _weird_… like have you noticed that he's always drinking water? The man is like a fish or something."

"You know I have noticed that… I've heard he takes showers here on campus during his lunch hour," Alden says.

"Really?"

"Well I don't know if it's true."

"Wait, where's he going?"

Dawn and Alden watch as Professor Leach opens up a door that leads below the building. Across the front of it the word _Maintenance_ can be read. Dawn has an odd feeling about this, a bad feeling, but that feeling only makes her want to follow after Professor Leach more. As Dawn thinks about her situation she boils down the way she handles things to being the Slayer's sister. After all those years of listening about Buffy get in trouble Dawn's not surprised that her sister's habits have worn off on her.

"Well he is faculty."

"Yeah, faculty not maintenance… I think we should follow him."

--

Myla pushes her way through the door of Xander's apartment with a box in her arms. As the door swings open Xander follows her in with a box in his grasp as well. She makes a b-line for Xander's bedroom swiftly walking past the beige love seat and down the hall. Myla plops the brown box on the fluffy white comforter atop the bed. Xander follows her in and sets the box he was carrying beside hers. Myla turns around and wraps her arms around Xander. As he looks down at her he sees a big smile plastered across her face.

"I'm really glad you asked me to do this," Myla says.

"I am too… now come on lets get your stuff unpacked," Xander responds.

"Mmm, I had better ideas, my stuff can wait," Myla says as she wraps her arms around Xander's neck and pulls his lips to meet hers.

--

Buffy and Spike sit side by side in the living room. Across from them their first applicant waits for their next question. Spike scratches his head as he looks over the otherworldly nanny. She has four tentacles protruding from her body instead of arms, a human like face with long green hair, thick black rimmed glasses and blue skin. Spike glances at Buffy and can tell that she's trying as hard as she can not to make that cute disgusted look that she does on occasion.

"So um, miss… Zan…zig-wa… well you uh, you have great references, glowing really… but um… we… we just have a lot of applicants to go through and we'll get back to you as soon as we can," Buffy says.

"Thank you," the octopus lady says with a strange sound to her voice and exits the room.

Buffy turns to face Spike with an 'eh' face, her eyebrows are raised and one side of her lip is cocked ever so slightly. Spike can't help but chuckle at her a little.

--

Dawn and Alden descend the stairs on the other side of the Maintenance door moving slowly so not to make a sound. The only light comes from a few hanging bulbs and as the pair moves shadows dance across the stairs with every step. They watched professor Leach make his way down the stairs and walk around the corner. Now they've reached the bottom of the stairs and prepare themselves for whatever they may see next. The sound of running water and rattling metal enters their ears from further in the depths of the school basement.

Dawn peeks around the corner. Professor Leach is no where in sight, but water is pooling on the ground. Slowly she moves in the direction she believes her teacher to have gone and then she hears it, voices. Dawn and Alden reach the end of the wall and both of them peak their heads around the corner. Water is flowing from a broken pipe and a young girl is chained by her wrists to another pipe. Her blonde hair and clothes are wet form the water falling from above and the look across her face is of total fear as Professor Leach nears her.

"Please, please, Oh God, please just let me go," the girl says in a muffled voice as the sound of the running water echoes through the room.

Dawn's eyes bug big and Alden finds himself feeling nauseous at the sight before him. Then in horror they watch as their Professor's face morphs, His mouth grows wide and round and his teeth multiply into millions of rotating tiny shards. The professor nears the girl and she screams a loud terrified shrill. His teeth tear into the skin on her neck and as he engorges himself with blood Dawn and Alden turn away. They listen to the sounds of her death fade in the distance as they rush back up the stairs and into the hallway of their school.

--

After hours of unimpressive interviews Buffy and Spike are starting to get restless. They have a few nannies left on their list and while the thought has crossed both of their minds to just give up Buffy is hoping that just one of the following applicants will look promising. Then there is a knock at the door. Buffy glances at Spike and the both of them just sit there for a moment neither wanting to get the door.

"Ill get it," Spike says.

"No… no… I've got it," Buffy says as Spike is about to get up. He sits back down and Buffy goes to the door.

Buffy forces a fake smile across her face takes a deep breath and then turns the door knob. She pulls the door open. Her first thought of the woman before her is that she looks reasonably together and that just maybe this one would be a good one. Buffy looks the woman up and down. She appears to be human with red and black hair; her clothes seem slightly odd on her frame as if they were stolen from a forty year old woman's closet. She wears a tan suit with floral top and tan heels. Buffy looks the woman in the eyes which are her one and only clue that this person standing before her isn't human. Her eyes are jet black.

"I'm here for the nanny position," the woman says.

"Hi, um… come in," Buffy says gesturing the woman into the penthouse.

Spike stands as the woman enters and observes her from head to toe as she looks around the apartment. He finds something about her unsettling but doesn't know what it is. The woman takes a few steps farther into the room then turns around to face Buffy and Spike.

"Is that the baby's room down there?" She asks.

"Yeah," Buffy says, "I'm sorry I didn't get your name."

The woman takes a few steps toward Buffy and Spike but instead of responding with her name she brings her hand up below her lips. The onyx eyed woman takes a deep breath and blows a kiss of sparkling pink air. Her breath shimmers and fills the space quickly. Buffy reacts taking a step forward to take out the woman knowing that she's not who she appears to be, but the second the pink mist meets her lungs Buffy falls unconscious to the ground.

--

Alden's dorm room door slams shut as he and Dawn rush in out of breath. Alden locks the door and Dawn sits down on the bed. The room is empty besides them as Alden's roommate is in class. Alden turns to face Dawn and then runs his hand through his hair still shaken from what they both saw in the basement.

"What do we do now?" Alden asks his girlfriend who looks up at him with big blue eyes.

"I… I don't know," Dawn replies. "He's been killing people on campus, and that girl… God, when I said he was a demon I was just kidding… I didn't think…"

Alden moves to Dawn's side sitting down next to her on his bed. He puts his arms around her and Dawn leans into him. She's seen a lot in her lifetime, but that was one of the most gruesome images that she can remember. Alden kisses her forehead in an attempt to calm both of them. Dawn tilts her head up to look at him. Their eyes meet for a moment and then so do their lips.

--

Black eyes look over baby Jayden in her crib. As Jayden see's the red headed demon hovering above her she begins to cry and it's then that the demon lowers her hands into the crib to pick her up, however, before her hands can reach the child she's knocked to the ground.

Spike stands with a glimmer of gold in his eyes above the female demon ready to take her out. The mist that she had blown in Buffy's face knocked her out, but Spike's dead lungs didn't breathe any of it in. When Buffy collapsed to the ground Spike had moved to her side and laid her on the couch, then after a moment to make sure she was still breathing he ran into the bedroom to see the evil nanny hovering above his child's crib.

The demon gets to her feet and glances back at the open window behind her. Spike takes a step forward ready to throw another punch, but before he's able to do anything the demon is gone in a flash. She darts to the window and jumps out it without hesitation. Spike dashes to the window and looks out to see that the nanny has spread large black bat-like wings and is flying off.

Spike moves to the crib where Jayden is crying, he picks her up and holds her close as he closes the bedroom window.

--

Dawn's back is flat against the soft comforter on Alden's bed. She's taking in the feeling of his soft skin and hard muscles from beneath his t-shirt while his hands are running through her hair. Their lips part for a moment as Dawn and Alden each take a deep breath and then they meet again in a fevered rush. Things are starting to get more heated and they're still alone in Alden's dorm. They're in dangerous territory and Dawn knows it. Alden's fingers are trailing up Dawn's side underneath her shirt and then they move down to the waistband of her jeans. Stop. Dawn knows things are about to move to the next level and in that moment she decides that she's not ready yet.

Dawn puts her hands on Alden's chest and pushes him back. Immediately he withdraws his hand and the two of them sit up on the bed.

"Stop," Dawn says softly.

"I'm sorry, I… I shouldn't…"

"no, it's okay… I just… I'm not ready yet."

"I know… I completely understand, and that's fine… we don't have to do anything you're not ready for."

"Really?"

"Yes, absolutely… I love you Dawn, and yeah, I'd love to… but not until you're comfortable with it… I'll wait."

Dawn smiles and thinks to herself how much better she feels having just had that short conversation with her boyfriend. Hearing those words from him has makes her feel completely secure in taking the time she needs before being with him.

"Thank you," Dawn says and Alden pulls her into a hug. As he does Dawn's eyes move around the room behind him and then she sees it. Sitting on the small side table in the room is a take out box from the night before and a salt and pepper shaker. Dawn eyes up the salt shaker and gets an idea. She pulls out of the hug and looks Alden in the eye. "I know how to stop him."

--

"Are you sure about this?" Alden asks as he helps Dawn set up the trap in the basement of the school.

"Yeah, I mean, no I'm not positive… but I'm pretty sure."

Professor Leach is in class and Dawn and Alden are positive that he won't be entering the basement for at least the next ten minutes. They set up a bucket filled with salt to hang above the door with a rope attached ready to spill it. As Dawn watches Alden hang the bucket she thinks to herself that there's no way with how much water that guy drinks that this won't try him out.

"Okay, that's it," Alden says as he finishes up hanging the trap.

"Alright good… now we just wait."

Dawn and Alden move off to the side. They want to be a safe distance from the door incase their trap doesn't work and they have to run. Then they sit down and wait. Their nerves are on high as they watch the door intently. A few minutes pass, then a few more, and then finally they know Professor Leach is out of class and Alden tightens his grip on the rope.

Finally a few minutes later the door opens. Dawn watches as the light between the door and its frame widens then disappears as the professor closes the door behind him. Alden waits just long enough to make sure that it's Professor Leach who's walked through the door and then he pulls on the rope. The bucket of salt falls and Dawn and Alden watch as their teacher screams an inhuman sound as his skin sizzles and boils like when pouring salt on a slug. His body shrivels and distorts and then finally Dawn knows that he's dead.

Dawn stands and makes her way over to the white bubbling mass of tissue that is all which remains of her professor.

"We did it," Alden says.

"yeah we did."

--

Spike walks into the living room with a glass of water for Buffy who has just woken up. Willow sits beside her holding baby Jayden in her arms. They've just finished explaining to Willow what happened with the Nanny search and attack on Buffy.

"Do you think this has to do with the prophecy that Giles was talking about?" Willow asks.

"I think that's a safe bet," Buffy replies.

"So Red, what can we do?" Spike asks as he sits down on the couch beside Buffy.

"Well, we should call a meeting with everyone tomorrow and figure out what this demon is, but I can have some spells put up around the penthouse to help keep out anything that shouldn't be here."

"Thanks Willow," Buffy says as she takes a sip of water. "I think we have a new big bad on our hands, I wanna take this seriously."

"Of course… I mean anything that puts this little girl's life in danger is so with the serious. Don't worry guys; we'll get this figured out."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this chapter took forever to get up... The next few will be a little on the slow side as well, I've been very busy, but this fic will get finished eventually; so if you like it just hang in there and check out my website for updates. Thank you to all my readers. I'll get "9.08 Welcome to the Fabulous World of Vampire Slayage" written and up as soon as possible.


	8. 908 WFWVS

**Welcome to the Fabulous World of Vampire Slayage:**

In Giles's old office Buffy, Willow and Xander hold a meeting. They sit at the end of the table with Willow at the head and Buffy and Xander on either side of her. It's just the three of them and their topic of discussion isn't life threatening so they wanted to keep the meeting small. With the big bad making herself and her motives known Buffy has been on full alert and she knows that it's time to start getting things together.

"It's time to call in more troops," Willow says.

"And just when I was getting used to the peace and quiet," Xander says.

"Having a building full of slayers-to-be isn't on my top ten list right now either, but with Jayden involved I'll feel a lot safer knowing that I have an army here at my disposal," Buffy says.

The office door then flies open and in walks an overly enthusiastic Andrew. All faces turn to him as he stands before them with excitement written across his face and holding a paper in his hand.

"I have really important information," Andrew blurts out.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Buffy asks.

"Look," Andrew says sticking out his hand with force and shoving the paper he was carrying in Buffy's face.

Buffy takes the paper from Andrew and reads it over. At first she's afraid that it's bad news, possibly a warning of some kind or an up coming threat, but then quickly she realizes it's not. Buffy drops the paper from her sight and looks at Andrew.

"I am a full-fledged watcher now," Andrew says proudly.

--

Kennedy sits slumped on the sofa in her and Willow's apartment, lately however, it's felt less like their place and more like a space they both occasionally visit. Kennedy grabs the remote and starts flipping through channels. There's nothing on. If Willow were there sitting around watching nothing would be no big deal, but she's not. She's working. She had been busy before throwing herself into her magic, but now that Giles has retired she's never around anymore. Kennedy thinks for a moment if only Willow weren't a witch, then she'd have some time to spare. Kennedy comes to the conclusion that magic is to blame for the distance in their relationship. Then from that conclusion Kennedy's mind wanders. Her eyes grow wide as the wheels turn within her brain. If magic has been keeping them apart then maybe it could bring them closer together.

--

The gang hovers in Willow's magic lab with a glowing world map before them. Buffy, Xander and Andrew look on at her work with awe. Glowing pencil size dots are scattered across the map in pink and yellow hues, pink for those who are already slayers and yellow for the potentials.

"Hey, look… there's me," Buffy says with excitement pointing to the brightest pink dot on the page.

"Okay so this is great and all Will, but how do _we_ find them," Xander asks.

"I've already figured that out, _and_ I have a list of the best candidates for the next group," Willow says handing out papers. "I've looked up every potential here and listed them based on age, location, and history… these girls are all between the ages of eighteen and twenty and they all speak English… I think."

"Willow that's great," Buffy says… "Everyone take a name on this list to recruit, we'll start with that for today… and Andrew, you're a watcher now so that means the first ones yours."

--

Dawn holds her niece in her arms and looks down at her with joy. A smile comes to her face watching the child wrapped in a pink blanket coo in her arms. Alden stands behind her watching her with a smile on his face as well and Buffy looks on at the two of them with over-protective attention to detail and worry seeping into her mind.

"I don't know, maybe I should just stay here," Buffy says.

"Buffy. Go. I'll be fine… we need some new slayeretts around here."

"I know, but… everyone will be gone… it's just… what if something happens."

"Then I'll do this," Dawn says as she disappears in a beam of light with Jayden in her arms and reappears a few feet away. "If any big uglies show I'll take her to Hawaii or something… we'll be _fine_."

"You can do that, take her with you?"

"Yup, see no biggie… I mean I don't have the power to drag Alden along or anything… least not yet, but bitty baby here is no problem-o."

"Uh, okay… okay, I'll go… but if something happens you'll call right?"

"Yes, we'll be fine, now go," Dawn says pushing Buffy out the door and shutting it behind her.

--

In the main office Willow disperses airline tickets to Xander, Buffy and Spike; Glasgow Scotland; Dusseldorf, Germany, and one to an obscure airport in Africa; Willow then holds on to the last ticket to Paris for herself. Tara had wanted to go to Paris she thinks as she holds the paper ticket between her fingers. Andrew and Myla are also in the room, but their charges to find are in England and they will be driving to them.

"Okay, everyone's set… so, we'll meet back here later today then."

"Uh, not me Red… I'll be back tomorrow," Spike says.

"What? Where are you going? I thought none of us were going more then an hour away," Buffy says with concern as she turns to face Spike.

"Yeah… I uh… there was a girl on that list that… she's someone I met when I went to Africa… when I got my soul… this is one I want to bring back… sides, I need to go somewhere far enough away that I'll get there after the sun sets." Spike says.

"As long as it's not me going back to Africa," Xander says, "I've spent enough time there for one lifetime."

--

All of the scoobies have left for the airport or in one of the Council cabs a short while ago. With them gone Kennedy makes her way into Willow's magic lab and begins scanning the books on the shelves. She'd never preformed a spell before, but she's observed many since she started seeing Willow and is fairly certain that she can cast one correctly. She feels rather overwhelmed with the vast amount of texts that are at her disposal but no one should be back for at least a few hours so she knows she has time to find the right one.

--

Andrew arrives at the destination of the potential slayer that he's been assigned to recruit. He's outside her apartment in London now. According to the information that Willow gave she lives with her family and is of Chinese descent. Andrew pictures her for a moment as a kung-fu ninja like slayer fighting off vampires with agility, grace, and really cool flying kicks. Andrew gets out of the car, adjusts the collar of his shirt and straightens his tweed jacked in preparation to look as watcherly as possible when he meets her.

--

Myla walks up to a small house that's located about a half hour from the Council. Helen Hirsch is the potential that lives here. Myla knocks on the black door and within seconds an older woman opens it. She has dark hair with graying highlights and while she resembles the description that Willow gave her, brown hair and brown eyes, she's obviously too old to be the women that she's looking for.

"Um, hi… is Helen here?" Myla asks and listens as the woman yells into the house in another language. Within a few seconds a younger woman comes to the door.

"I'm Helen," The woman says as she comes into view.

"I need to speak to you, can I come in?" Myla asks.

--

Andrew sits on the sofa in the well lit apartment of Li Na Yangkun. He waits patiently as Li Na argues with her mother in the other room in Chinese and looks around at the Asian floral décor of the space. Then after a few moments Li Na enters the room and sits down in a chair before Andrew. She has long black hair, brown eyes and the thinnest petite frame that Andrew's ever seen.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wells… my mother, she is very protective of me," Li Na says with a slight Chinese accent.

"What did she say?" Andrew asks.

"She say… what you do now? She thinks I'm in trouble… I'm not in trouble am I?"

"No… no, Li Na, I'm with the Watcher's Council… and you have been chosen…"

--

"…chosen to be a slayer," Myla says as she sits across from Helen in her family room. As she looks around she can tell that she lives in this small home with her Mother. There is one black and white photo with Helen as a small child, her mother and apparently her father, but that's it. Her mother then calls into the room in what Myla has now deciphered as Polish and Helen yells something back. Myla however, doesn't know what they've said.

"I don't understand what that means," Helen says turning back to Myla.

--

Willow walks into a small café in Paris. Pastries and croissants fill the window and the smell makes Willow's mouth water. She wishes she had more time to spend in this city, but this is a business trip and if she wants to see the tower she knows she'll have to come back another day. Once she's moved a few feet into the café she sees who she believes to be Amelia Barrett, the potential she's looking for. The woman has short light blonde hair and very pale skin. She's is hanging up an apron on the wall apparently just getting off her shift.

"Bonjour, est votre nom Amelia?" Willow asks as the blonde nears her remembering what little French she can from her high school French class.

"Oui," the woman responds.

"Ok good… um… Parlez-vous l'anglais?"

"Yes I do, what is zeese about?"

"I need to talk to you."

--

"…I'm from the Watcher's Council in…" Xander begins to say to the girl before him only to have the door slammed in his face. Confused he knocks again and the woman opens the door once more. She has curly red hair, but not like Willow's, hers is lighter more of a strawberry blonde and she looks at Xander with a flat expression as he stands beneath a cloudy Glasgow sky.

"I know who you are and what you do… and I know why you're here," the woman says and starts to shut the door again, but Xander sticks his hand out and stops it.

"Wait… you know… you know about the council and slayers and vampires and…"

"And all the otherworldly creatures that lurk in the shadows, yeah, and I want nothing to do with them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… can we just talk for a minute? Look I came all this way, at least let me give you my spiel." Xander watches the woman think over his proposal and then she opens the door and lets him in.

--

Buffy waits in a large house in Germany where Eva Haff lives. Eva's parents let Buffy in and now she looks around Eva's room and at the photos of her and her friends waiting for Eva to return from the mall. She's eighteen and still in high school. The trinkets she keeps, photos and mementos from school events remind Buffy of herself from before she was the slayer. Buffy then spins around as the door opens and in walks a young woman with light brown hair and ice blue eyes. She has a cherry sucker in her mouth and pulls it out as she looks at Buffy in confusion.

"Wer sind Sie?" The girl asks.

"I'm from the Watcher's Council… do you speak English?"

--

"And ze're all real… vampires and demons?" Amelia asks with a thick French accent as she sits across from Willow at a small iron table outside the café where she works.

"I know it's hard to believe, but yes… and I'm offering you the chance to come back with me and learn about what _you_ are."

--

"What about money?" Li Na asks Andrew.

"The council will cover all your expenses, you'll live there while you train and then when you're ready you'll be sent somewhere with a mentor to be the slayer in that area." Andrew replies.

--

"…then we give you a Watcher," Myla explains to Helen, "He'll help train you and look over you and when your training is finished he'll go with you to wherever you're needed."

"And you've done all this; you are one of these… _slayers_?" The dark haired woman asks.

"Yes… except that I don't have a watcher… I um… well I'm kinda part of the group that runs the place so I finished my training but I stayed there after."

--

"And after all this training or whatever… after I see what this is like, I can leave if I want… I don't have to become a slayer?" Claire Dalling asks the one eyed man before her as she pushes her curly red hair behind her ears.

"Absolutely… look, I don't know what it's like to actually _be_ a slayer, but I've fought beside Buffy for nine years now… after knowing the good I can do in this… line of work, after the things I've seen, I wouldn't do anything else… this is your destiny and you've got the chance to see what it's all about before you commit to anything… don't you want to at least see what it's all about?"

--

"So you're _the_ slayer… as in _the_ first one?" Eva asks Buffy with a thick German accent.

"Well, not the first _ever_… but yeah, before I changed things I was the only one." Buffy says to the young girl as she sits beside her on her bed.

"So… knowing vhat you know… vhat vould you do? If you vere me, vould you accept this offer?" The girl asks moving a strand of light brown hair behind her ears. Buffy pauses for a moment and thinks about her question and about all the things she's seen. Then she looks the girl straight in her icy blue eyes.

"Yeah… yeah I would… it's a hard gig don't get me wrong, but it's part of who I am… and it's part of you too. I can't imagine not being what I am."

"Okay… I'll go back vith you then… vhat vill I tell my parents?"

"Don't worry… we'll tell them you've been accepted to a private school, they won't know a thing."

"Maybe they vill actually be proud of me for once."

--

Kennedy sits on the floor of the living room. The gang will be returning soon with the new slayers, but Kennedy knows they'll all be meeting in the office for a short orientation and she should have enough time to perform her love spell before Willow returns. A book is set before her and candles surround her. Lying next to her is a photo of Willow, a dove's feather and other miscellaneous ingredients. As Kennedy begins to chant she thinks about having Willow back to herself the way things used to be, all she has to do is wait till morning for her spell to take effect. By daybreak she believes that everything will be better. As words in Latin flow from her lips the candles grow brighter, their fames grow higher.

--

After a twelve hour flight Spike walks through the sand toward a small village in Central Africa. The air is humid but his vampire skin is still cool to the touch. The stars and half moon above light his way as he sees the flames from the villager's torches up ahead. Those flames, acting like a beacon to the tiny village, are the only things to see for miles in the ocean of sand.

As Spike reaches the village men dressed like warriors stand to greet him or more so to keep an eye on him. They stare at him as he enters their community with wary eyes. Spike walks past them silently and begins his search for Kamili Ballo. He doesn't have to search for long. Within seconds of entering the tribe he sees her standing before him. She has short black hair and eyes that look straight through him. Kamili stands with strength and authority. Even without her powers she looks like a slayer. As Spike nears her she gives him one final look then turns and walks off, a sign to Spike that she wants him to follow her.

"I know why you are here," the dark skinned woman says with a thick African accent as she sits down before a fire.

"Is that so?" Spike says as he sits down beside her.

"I 'member you, you know… you sought da dark one."

"That I did… was looking for something only he could give me."  
"Your soul… I know wat you are, you're here to take me back wit you, yes?"

"How do you know all of this?"

"I see deese things, I've been having da dreams, da slayer dreams and da spirits toll me you'd be comin for me… they say to me a dark warrior will show an dat I mus go wit him… it is my destiny."

"That it is pet, are you ready?"

"Yes… an we must go now… there is something a brewin where you come from an my help will be needed."

--

Kennedy wakes and turns to her side. A frown crosses the slayers face as she sees that Willow is already up and off working with the new potentials. She wonders for a moment if something went wrong with her spell. She had expected to wake with her lover beside her with their relationship back to the loving and joyous experience that she remembers it being in the past. Kennedy decides to look for Willow and see if her spell has had any effect.

--

The new potentials are gathered in the activities room on the sixth floor of the Council. Xander and Myla have just finished giving them a tour of the building, showing them the training room and assigning them dorms. Now Buffy plans to speak with them and give them some insight into their destiny.

Claire twists her fingers through her red curly hair and listens in on Amelia and Eva's conversation about what they expect to go through here at the Council. Andrew is there as well and carries on a conversation with Li Na meanwhile Helen is tapping her fingers across the table. Buffy then walks into the room and all eyes turn to face her; however before she can begin her speech Kennedy walks enters looking for Willow.

Buffy sees Kennedy differently then she's ever seen her before as she walks in. Kennedy looks good, really good. Buffy doesn't know what it is about the younger slayer but she finds herself unable to take her eyes off her. Her brown eyes twinkle and her lips look so soft. Buffy then looks back at the group of potentials and sees that all of them are staring at Kennedy as well. Buffy can see the lust in their eyes and jealousy rises in the pit of Buffy's stomach.

"Kennedy… hi," Buffy says sweetly.

"Um, Buffy hi… have you seen Willow?"

"Willow… no, Willow's not here, but um… maybe you could help me with something?" She asks then proceeds to bite her bottom lip and tilt her body seductively.

--

Andrew comes bursting through the doors of the office where Willow, Myla and Xander look over the credentials of the recently graduated Watchers and try to decide who to pair with who. The office door slams against the wall and startles those in the room. Xander jumps in his seat and as he sees Andrew standing there and thinks to himself that he didn't think the boy was strong enough to throw the door that hard.

"You guys, you need to come quick… something's happened," Andrew says in a frantic voice.

--

"Holy mother of… wait… I know what this is," Xander says as he stares at the cat fight before him.

The potentials tear at each other, pulling hair and dragging fingernails across skin as they try to hold one another back from reaching Kennedy. The words _'shes mine'_ can be heard from someone in the rumble. Kennedy holds Buffy back to keep her from hurting the other girls who don't have their slayer strength yet, but Buffy seems more interested in hitting on the younger slayer.

"This is a love spell," Xander says to Willow, Andrew and Myla, but when he looks over toward his girlfriend he sees that she's twisting he hair between her fingers and is biting her bottom lip.

"Love spell… right," Myla says, "I'm gonna go help Kennedy keep Buffy from killing the others."

Myla then saunters over to the group and Xander looks on for a moment thinking that the situation is kinda hot, then after a moment when Myla gets into a full out brawl with Buffy as they fight over Kennedy he decides that it's gone on long enough.

"Okay… we need to do something about this now."

--

Xander, Willow and Andrew rush into Willow's apartment where she searches through various drawers for the ingredients that Kennedy used for the spell. She finds nothing in the kitchen or the living room; however in one of the dresser drawers she finds numerous candles as well as a photo of herself and other witchcraft ingredients.

"Will, tell me you found something… they looked like they might kill each other when we left," Xander says.

"Yeah I got it… and I can fix it," Willow says pulling her photo and one candle from the drawer.

Willow lights the candle and burns the photo of herself, alongside soft chanting in Latin. The candle flame grows bright as it tears through her photo and Willow successfully ends the spell. Downstairs the fighting comes to a stop and the women in the room look on at each other with confusion.

--

Willow sits cross-legged on her bed with a book in her hands. The room is dark besides a single table lamp as Kennedy walks in. Willow looks up at her and sets her book down.

"You were only supposed to light one candle… that's why the spell effected everyone… you made it too strong… and it didn't affect me because, well I have too much magic in me," Willow says.

"I'm sorry," Kennedy says softly.

"I just don't understand why?"

"You've just been really busy lately… I just… I wanted us to spend some more time together."

"Kennedy, you should have just talked to me, magic is dangerous and you shouldn't use it to mess with people's minds."

"Yeah… I get that now… I'm really sorry, can you forgive me?"

Willow thinks about her situation with Kennedy and is reminded of when she placed a forgetting spell on Tara to end one of their fights.

"I forgive you."

* * *

A/N: More spuffyness by next week in "Dead Lungs don't Breathe" Thanks to all my reviewers and special thanks to Boris Yeltsin for help with the slayeretts.


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